


Restoration of Magic

by Bickymonster, CelticKitsune



Series: Restoration Of Magic Universe [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter Friendship, Empath Harry, F/M, Fae Magic, Kidnapping, M/M, Magically Powerful Harry, Mates, Mpreg, Original Character(s), The Talk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2018-06-10 02:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 160,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6933409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bickymonster/pseuds/Bickymonster, https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelticKitsune/pseuds/CelticKitsune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Fae have long since removed themselves from the Wizarding World. Without their guidance, their gift of magic has become twisted into something darker than it should have been. The world has become corrupted, Voldemort is quickly rising to power, and the givers of magic decide to take drastic action. But will taking wizarding children and raising them with Fae knowledge be enough to heal the damage that has been done?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> We have been very excited to share this with you all since the idea first started forming. We hope that you love it as much as we do.
> 
> This prologue does introduce quite a few OCs, but don't panic. There is a guide to how to say their names at the end of the chapter (though most of them should be fairly self-explanatory), and we will be diving head first into the Harry Potter world in the next chapter.
> 
> We would also like to give a big thank you to Emily for all her work beta-ing this story for us, and Achilles for his help with the summary.

_ June 1976 _

 

Almar kept a steady pace as he made his way through the city. He could see his destination in the distance, its high glimmering towers poking up through the trees that grew throughout the city; another five minutes and he would be at the Hall of the High Council. 

 

Though a full Council meeting wasn’t unheard of, this was the first time in many years, the first time since his promotion to head of the second level of the Council, that all twelve of them would be in the same room. Almar had a fairly good idea of what this meeting was going to be about; being in charge of the second level Council allowed him access to information to which others were not privy. There had been undercurrents in the city, and the wider international community even, for some time now, and there was only so long that the Council could ignore them before at least discussing the matter.

 

As Almar approached the steps to the Hall of the High Council he saw the head of the lower Council standing outside, apparently waiting for someone. 

 

“Elmon,” Almar greeted. “I thought you would have already been inside, as the meeting is going to be starting soon,” Almar said as he came to stand in front of his fellow Council member. 

 

“I am waiting for Alais; she is currently dealing with a small problem and is running later than expected,” Elmon explained.

 

“Arnaldo will not be pleased,” Almar told him with a concerned frown.

 

“Arnaldo is never pleased,” Elmon pointed out bluntly. Almar half shrugged, having to concede that Arnaldo truly was a seriously and often miserable man the majority of the time.

 

“Surely Alais understands the importance of this meeting,” Almar said, trying not to reprimand Elmon for not keeping better track of his subordinate. However, from the look of annoyance that Elmon was now giving him, it had obviously come across that way. 

 

“You should get inside, wouldn’t want you to be late for this important meeting,” Elmon said turning his attention back out toward the street. Almar felt as if he should say more, after all Alais was his sister and he knew better than anyone how she could be; however, he said nothing else, giving Elmon a single nod of his head before going inside. If Alais was late, it was Elmon’s problem, and he would have to be the one to deal with Arnaldo. The only help Almar could offer was a silent prayer to the Gods that his sister managed to get here on time.

 

Almar made his way towards the largest of the Council Chambers, the one reserved for the use of the four Elders. He had been there before, but the impressive room still stunned him a little as he entered, light filtering through the glass-like walls, and showing off the high sheen of the rich, dark wood of the floor. 

 

He was unsurprised to see that, other than Elmon and Alais, everyone else was already there, many of them taking their seats at the U-shaped table, which had the appearance of having flexed itself up from the floorboards beneath their feet. They all had their assigned position, part of the long traditions that were upheld in this building; the elders led from the middle section, with the Secondaries off to their right, the Lowers to the left.

 

The Head of the Council, Arnaldo, was already sat in his chair, and Almar’s eyes were unwillingly drawn to its sheer size and domineering presence; the chair was formed from a tree, one that was still growing, coming up through the floor from the levels below and disappearing up towards the sky, its crown offering a small degree of shade from the mid-day sun.

 

“Almar,” one of his subordinates, Rania, called out, drawing his attention, and Almar headed across the room towards her.

 

“Rania,” he greeted once he was close enough that he wouldn’t have to raise his voice to be heard. “Glad to see that the three of you could be here on time,” he added, glancing past her to where Farai and Cellica were talking quietly to each other.

 

“Hmmm,” Rania hummed, glancing over at where Elmon and Alais were supposed to be seated. “I had noticed that your little sister was missing. I had assumed she would show with you, but I can only assume that Elmon has gone to find her.”

 

“He is waiting outside for her,” Almar informed her, “And before you ask, I have no idea what she is busy doing this time.” Almar resisted the urge to sigh. Their parents had been delighted by the idea of having both of their children on the Council, and Almar had been mightily impressed by how Alais was coping with the pressure of the job, but most of the Council was less endeared by her rather unorthodox way of handling things.

 

“She may have finished her work early, and got distracted on the way over here,” Rania suggested, patting Almar on the arm as the two of them headed over to take their seats.. 

 

“That is less helpful than you may think,” Almar said, his brow furrowing, and Rania smiled at him. 

 

“I never said I was trying to be helpful, sir,” she said with deliberate politeness, “Merely stating possible facts.” 

 

Almar wished he could argue with her, but knew that Rania was correct. It was quite likely that Alais had got distracted, most likely having spotted someone in need; it was something that had happened on more than one occasion. Almar just hoped that that wasn’t the case today. 

 

The door to the Council room opened and Almar looked around to see Elmon strolling in, but Alais was nowhere in sight. He raised an eyebrow in question at Elmon, who shook his head in reply to the unasked question. Resisting the urge to sigh out loud, Almar watched the door for a moment longer wondering how much longer his sister would be on the Council if she showed up late for this meeting. 

 

“It seems as if your sister has deemed it unimportant to join us today,” the familiar voice of the High Council member Tinasia said from behind him. Almar kept a neutral look on his face as he turned to face her. Elegant and graceful were always the first two words that came to mind when he saw Tinasia. However, Almar also knew that no one made it onto the High Council easily, and while Tinasia was beautiful, she could also be a deadly foe if angered. 

 

“Tinasia, I believe you are once again confusing me with Elmon,” Almar said politely. “While Alais is my sister, Elmon is her superior and any questions regarding Alais’ work priorities should be taken up with him,” Almar pointed out, clearly dismissing the conversation that Tinasia was trying to start. 

 

“You do not seem worried that her failure today will not only cast a shadow on you and your position in the Council, but it will also bring shame to your family name,” Tinasia said, and Almar narrowed his eyes slightly. 

 

“Anything that my sister does or does not do is on her own head,” Almar stated simply, ready to end this conversation and walk away, however, that choice was taken from him when the whole room suddenly went silent. 

 

They all glanced in the direction of Arnaldo; the High Council Leader hadn’t moved at all from his chair, in fact the only thing that had changed was that the eldest Council member was now holding a small stone in his hand. The Surdus stone. It had been this tiny thing that had caused the room to go unnaturally silent. Even the sound of breathing or the footsteps on the floor could not be heard as all the other members of the Council made their way to their appointed seats. 

 

The Surdus stone looked like any ordinary stone that you would find in a lake or river, the surface of it having been rubbed smooth over time. However, just by holding the Surdus in your hand, it was easy to tell that this was no ordinary stone; it had not been water and sand that had rubbed the surface smooth, but time and magic. Every High Council Leader had held that stone, each one putting a little bit of their own magic into the stone each time they used it. 

 

In truth there were many objects like this throughout the city, and while someone who did not live there might find it amazing, or think there was some hidden purpose for such an object, the only use for the Surdus stone was simply to cancel out any and all sound, except that made by the person holding it. 

 

Arnaldo tapped the stone once on the arm of his chair and, although no one spoke, Almar knew that sound had been returned to the room for the simple fact that he could hear his own breathing again. 

 

Everyone had their attention on Arnaldo, waiting for him to declare the meeting had started. It was, however, at that moment that Alais decided to make her dramatic entrance. The sound of the of the doors swinging open drew all their attention, and they all turned towards her as she burst into the room, clearly out of breath. Almar was sure that she must have ran the whole way there from wherever she had been.

 

“Sorry,” she said looking around at everyone, who were all staring at her expectantly. “There was this old merchant… then a bird with a broken wing... and when I was nearly here, I realised that I wasn’t wearing my Council Robes...” she began explaining with a smile, whilst still trying to catch her breath. 

 

“Alais,” Elmon interrupted, stopping any further explanations from her. “You are here just in time for the start of the meeting. Take your seat,” he ordered, his voice stern as he watched her smile and do as instructed, sitting in the vacant chair at the end of the Lower Level’s side of the table; though she seemed blissfully unaware of the looks that many of the other Council members were currently giving her. 

 

“The meeting will now begin,” Arnaldo stated and once again all attention was on him. It was quite clear that Elmon was right, and that the Leader was not remotely pleased by Alais’ late arrival. Technically, however, she had arrived in time, and so there was no official reprimand that Arnaldo could give her; though Almar was sure that one of the four Elders would be having words with his little sister at some point soon.

 

Arnaldo waited until he had everyone’s full attention before he began to speak. “It has been many generations since we have associated ourselves with the World of Wizards.” He paused for dramatic effect. “As Hydras, we were once able to take great pride in having helped create their world, in having gifted them with abilities like our own, but now the World of Wizards lays in near ruin because of their greedy desire for ever more power,” Arnaldo said, his hand clenching around the Surdus indicating that this was a topic that angered him. 

 

Nobody had to ask what Arnaldo was speaking of. Even within the Hydras city, they had heard the disturbing news of the latest Dark Wizard, who was slowly, but steadily, rising to power. In the past, they had always left such things alone, for there had been many dark and evil wizards over the millennia, their empires tending to rise and fall in one short century. Such time was little to Fae, whose lives were often six or even seven centuries long. But what this wizard was doing was forbidden, even by their own laws, and they could ignore things no longer. 

 

“Are you suggesting that we take action against this evil one?” Vulre of the Lower Council questioned. He looked from Arnaldo to his fellow Council members, unsure if he was reading too much into what Arnaldo had said. 

 

“Aid the wizards in their fight?” Isevel questioned from her spot next to Vulre. 

 

“I do not see why we should lower ourselves to give assistance to those who have only sought to claim more power, rather than take pride in what was already given to them,” Rosario of the High Council said, dismissing the idea of fighting this rising evil. Like those before, she was sure that this evil would be gone in a century, two at the most. 

 

“If we just ignore this and let it play out, as we have all the others, surely the problem will take care of itself.” Itham, the other male Elder, leaned forward so he could see around Tinasia and look at Rosario. 

 

“Ever the optimist, Itham, assuming that the problem will sort itself out as always,” Farai of the Secondary Level said with a chuckle, earning himself a glare from the High Council member. Before any reply could be made, the room once again fell eerily silent and everyone once again turned their attention towards Arnaldo. 

 

“We will not be aiding the wizards,” Arnaldo stated firmly. “However, this new evil will do irreversible damage to the World of Wizards, and lesser folk. This evil will spread and grow, and in generations to come it will consume the world.” Arnaldo paused looking around the U-shaped table; no one was able to speak as he had yet to remove the effects of the Surdus stone. They all sat, their attention still on him as he continued, “Taking action and destroying this evil will not stop this from happening. Our ancestors saw great potential in the lesser folk, gave them magic and raised them above what they once were. However, through neglect and misguidance the gift of magic has been corrupted.”

 

There were nods of agreement around the table, all of them knew that the world of wizards had been in poor shape since before most of them had even been born, and it was hard to watch something that their ancestors had put so much time and energy into building, just fall apart. The question of ‘ _ how do we fix this _ ’ had been passed around many times before. Many people had ideas of how to restore everything to how their ancestors had envisioned it, but an agreement had never been reached by the Council before. 

 

“We are all in agreement that something drastic must be done, if we want to rid the world of this rising evil, and restore what our ancestors built,” Arnaldo said, making sure to choose his next words carefully. “The only way that greatness can be achieved is for us to take an active part in raising the next generation. We will teach them how to harness the pure magic of the world, raise them to respect what has been given to them, and punish them as we would our own people for disobeying the laws,” Arnaldo finished, tapping the Surdus and returning sound to the other Council members. 

 

The room remained silent, everyone looking from one another, all of them silently contemplating what Arnaldo had just said. None of them could argue that something should be done, but the thought of being so involved with the wizards, working close enough to raise their offspring… It was certainly a radical concept.

 

“I do not believe that the parents of this next generation will be agreeable to this,” Cellica spoke up from her seat next to Farai, looking toward Arnaldo. 

 

“If we choose the families carefully, explain the situation and convince them, this is a plan that could truly work,” Rania said thoughtfully, looking to her fellow Council member, not wanting Cellica to dismiss the idea out of hand. “Though, I agree it may take some time to convince the wizards of our good intentions, with this rising evil and the fact that we have not been involved with them for so long.”

 

“There are flaws in this plan,” Elmon spoke next, “But, admittedly, it has merit. As Rania said, this is something that has potential; however, there are too many variables; what families we choose, if they are receptive to us, if they will allow us to take part in raising their child. And, even if we do help raise this next generation, they will still be in the World of Wizards, there is still a chance that they will become more corrupt than any generation before them,” Elmon said, pointing out one of the largest flaws in this plan. 

 

Everyone fell silent again, contemplating his words. This was a problem with their interactions with the Wizarding World that many other Council members had talked about before, and they had never been able to reach an acceptable solution to the problem.

 

“Then we remove some of the variables,” Tinasia spoke up, her soft voice heard clearly in the quiet room, and she smiled as she now had everyone’s attention. 

 

“And how would we do that?” Almar questioned, not bothering to hide the scepticism in his voice. 

 

“The wizards send their children off to school for months at a time,” Tinasia pointed out, pausing to let the others take this information in. “Something like that could be acceptable,” she suggested, her smile still firmly in place as mutterings broke out around the room.

 

“Are you suggesting that we set up a school?” Alais asked, looking Tinasia in the eye. “Or something more…?” she questioned, glancing at Arnaldo before back to Tinasia; the two High Council members were looking rather pleased with the direction of the debate was taking, and she couldn’t help but feel concerned.

 

“I do not see how this would address my concerns,” Cellica pointed out, before Tinasia had a chance to answer. “Why would the Wizarding parents put Fae in charge of their children’s education? Surely they will want their children to be taught by their own kind,” she said, and a murmur of a agreement flittered around the room.

 

“Orphaned witches and wizards then,” Farai suggested, excitement rising in his voice. “Children of Wizards that we can raise ourselves. Ones who will only know our ways and laws, that will be able to take that respect for magic back to the Wizarding world.”

 

“There are not enough orphans to achieve anything,” Rosario said dismissively with a wave of her arm. “Even if we were to raise them with our ways, they would never be able to change anything.”

 

“But the idea of raising them ourselves is definitely worth considering,” Tinasia insisted, turning in her seat to fix Rosario with a contemplative look. “Don’t you agree, Arnaldo?” she asked, her eyes going to their Leader, already knowing she would have his support.

 

“And where are these children supposed to come from?” Alais asked, unable to keep her thoughts to herself. It sounded an awful lot like Tinasia was proposing removing wizarding children from their families. “We can’t just take them.”

 

“Why not?” Farai asked arrogantly, and several of the members gasped in shock at the suggestion; it was certainly a lot more extreme than anything that had been proposed before, but many of them seemed to be giving the concept some serious thought. “The wizards would not be able to stop us.”

 

“You cannot seriously be considering his, Arnaldo?” Itham asked incredulously, hardly able to believe that two of his fellow Elders seemed to think this was a good idea, and even Rosario seemed to be giving it consideration. He was only grateful that the reactions of the Secondary and Lower levels seemed more mixed.

 

“I think we must,” Arnaldo said, his voice sounding weary. “I know it is a difficult thing to contemplate but if they cannot raise their children to respect magic, then we must do it for them.”

 

“This would be a serious undertaking,” Elmon pointed out. “Even if we decide to do this, we would have to house, feed, care for, educate and train these children. I do not think I could even consider agreeing to such a thing unless we can spare people to take personal responsibility for each of these young witches and wizards.”

 

“I agree with Elmon,” Rania said. She understood why this needed to be seriously considered as an option, but she wasn’t going to allow these children to be taken from their families only to end up mistreated in the Hydras City.

 

“I am sure that could all be arranged,” Vulre said, speaking up now that most of the Council seemed to be leaning towards approving the idea. “I think what we truly need to consider carefully is a long term plan. We cannot simply correct one generation, we will need to put a system in place to maintain the changes we want to see.”

 

“This could start a war,” Itham protested. “We cannot take their children and expect them to sit back and do nothing.”

 

“Then we only take a few,” Isevel suggested, and everyone turned to look at the Lower Council member. “Take maybe ten from each year for maybe five years. Then we raise those fifty to adulthood, until they have children of their own; then, when the time comes, we start to let them return to the wizarding world, taking our ideas with them, and we take a few more children to be mated to the children born of the previous generation.”

 

“That’s a great plan,” Farai said enthusiastically, glancing up at Tinasia and Arnaldo, who both looked serious but pleased with the suggestion. 

 

“A great plan?” Alais asked angrily, getting to her feet. “You are talking about stealing 50 children from their families. Itham is right, this could cause a war, and that is without even considering how morally reprehensible this is.”

 

“Alais, calm yourself,” Elmon instructed firmly. He appreciated the passion that Alais showed in her work, but there was a time and a place for such displays, and in front of Arnaldo and the other Elders was not it.

 

“Calm myself? We are talking about seriously considering kidnapping children here,” Alais said, having a hard time keeping her anger under control. 

 

“Alais,” Almar snapped, “your opinion is important, but there is no need for you to raise your voice. Everyone feels very strongly about this proposal, and it is not a decision that will be taken lightly. Taking children from their parents, even children that are seen as a lesser version of what we ourselves are, is a sensitive topic and one that, if agreed upon, we will do our best to make sure is handled properly,” Almar promised his sister.

 

Alais didn’t seem entirely appeased, but she did at least take her seat again, and Elmon nodded gratefully at Almar, appreciating the assistance. 

 

“I believe that before this conversation continues any further, we should vote,” Farai suggested, “Are we going to make plans for this, or are too many of us against this idea to even consider seeing what we could come up with?”

 

“Yes, it would seem pointless to continue this if we can’t even agree that this is the best course of action that any Council has ever come up with,” Tinasia said and looked to Arnaldo, who nodded his head in agreement. 

 

“Yes, let us vote now,” Arnaldo said. “Shall we see where planning will take us, or are too many of us uncomfortable with the idea of taking in children in order to save what our ancestors have created?” the Head Elder asked. “Everyone who is against proceeding?” Arnaldo looked around the table and watched as Alais raised her hand, though that was not a surprise as she had been the most vocal about her displeasure of this idea. The only other one who raised their hand was Itham. 

 

“And everyone who is for putting together this plan?” Tinasia asked, though this wasn’t truly needed, as everyone else raised their hands. 

 

“Motion passes,” Arnaldo stated, ignoring the death glare he was getting from Alais.

 

“We shall at least see if this idea is feasible,” Rosario said, getting a nod of agreement from Arnaldo. “Clearly we all agree that something has to be done; we have removed ourselves from the situation long enough that it has gotten out of control.” Nods and mutterings of agreement sounded around the table, Rosario speaking what so many of them had on their minds. “I think that whatever we do, we must accept that it falls to us to fix how far the World of Wizards has spiralled out of control.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The response to the prologue was spectacular! We are glad that people seem to be enjoying this fic already. There has been no set schedule for updating yet, but we do hope that the wait between chapters won't be to long. So! Here is chapter one, hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Thank you to Emily for her all her help.

_ March 1981 _

 

Dumbledore was no stranger to war and the tragedy that was brought with it. He had seen many good families torn apart and lives snuffed out because someone had been in the wrong place, at the wrong time, or had spoken out against the rising evil threatening the world they lived in. Though it was sad, it was something that was expected. However, recent events had Dumbledore concerned, as he sat behind his desk reading over the letter that he had received from Gideon and Fabian Prewett.

 

The letter was short, giving no more information other than their youngest nephew, Ronald Weasley, had disappeared overnight, and the brothers felt it was their duty to help their sister at the moment, and as such would not be available for the Order in the weeks to come. Dumbledore understood this decision, and would of course have to inform the Order of this recent occurrence. But the news that another child had gone missing truly worried Dumbledore.

 

He had spoken to Frank Longbottom about the number of missing children cases, so he knew that the Aurors were doing the best they could, and like most things in the ministry, the amount of missing children was being kept quiet, but Frank had pointed out similarities between the cases, and it had become quite obvious to Dumbledore that someone was collecting young children from wizarding families. There were just over half a dozen cases over the last few years that had come to Dumbledore’s attention, but he had a suspicion that there had been others. And though the Weasley family was not part of the Order, they were still connected to it through the Prewett brothers. 

 

Deciding that he needed to speak with Molly and Arthur himself, but knowing that the couple may not want unexpected company at the moment, Dumbledore reached for some parchment and wrote out a quick reply to Fabian, expressing his desire to meet Molly and Arthur as soon as possible. Dumbledore handed the letter to Fawkes once he was done, the Phoenix taking off to deliver it.

 

Dumbledore knew it was doubtful that he would find anything that the Aurors had overlooked, but with all the cases of missing children, all of them very similar to this one, Dumbledore was very sure that there was something more going on than simple kidnappings and missing children. He had his suspicions, but there had not been enough evidence to prove or disprove anything. If young Ronald’s disappearance turned out to be similar to the others, then the youngest Weasley would be the third child connected to the Order of the Phoenix that had gone missing in the last six months. 

 

Half an hour had gone by when Dumbledore’s fireplace came to life in a flash of green flame. Looking up from his desk, the Headmaster saw Gideon’s head in the flames. Dumbledore hurriedly stood from his behind his desk and moved to kneel down in front of the fireplace so he could speak with the man there. 

 

“We just received your letter,” Gideon said without wasting any time, “Does you wanting to meet with my sister and her husband have anything to do with what you and Frank were discussing after the Bones’ little girl went missing?” 

 

Dumbledore sighed sadly and inclined his head in confirmation. “I am unsure if your nephew’s disappearance is truly connected, but I hope that speaking with Molly and Arthur would help establish that. However, regardless of whether it is or not, I still wish to give my condolences to your family, and offer to help in any way that I can,” he added. 

 

Gideon nodded his head once, giving the man a grateful smile. “I suppose now would be as good a time as any. Come through,” Gideon said and he removed his head from the fireplace. 

 

Dumbledore didn’t need to be told twice, glad that Gideon had got back to him so quickly and so, using the floo powder he kept on the mantle, he head straight through to the Burrow. 

 

\----------------x

 

Stepping through the Floo to the other side, Gideon greeted Dumbledore with a hearty-handshake, and a grateful, but sad smile. Looking around, the Headmaster took in the sight before him. 

 

Sitting scattered around the living room were the four of the five other Weasley children; ten-year-old Bill had one of the two-year-old twins on his lap, and he seemed to be trying to comfort his confused little brother. Eight-year old Charlie, next to them on the sofa, was looking miserable and four-year-old Percy was sat at a small desk, seemingly in his own little world, his little legs swinging as he nibbled at the sandwich in front of him. The other twin was sat on Fabian’s hip, whining into his uncle’s shoulder. 

 

“Albus,” Fabian greeted, spotting the Headmaster standing next to the fireplace. “Arthur went upstairs to check on Molly, but he’ll be back down in a moment,” he explained, placing the twin in his arms down onto his own two feet. “Go give Charlie a cuddle, George,” he instructed, George looked up at his uncle for a moment before hurrying over to where Charlie was seated, latching onto his older brother. 

 

Charlie smiled as he looked down at his little brother, before helping George to climb up, wrapping his arms securely around his baby brother as they snuggled closer to each other. A laugh escaped him when Fred all but threw himself off of Bill’s lap to join in the cuddles. 

 

“They seem to be holding up well,” Albus commented quietly as he followed Gideon and Fabian towards the kitchen, wanting to put a little distance between them and the children so that he could speak more frankly. 

 

“I am not sure that they entirely know what is happening,” Gideon said sadly, as he filled and started the kettle. “Bill and Charlie seem to understand, at least to some extent, and the twins and Percy know something is wrong… There were a lot of tears and questions about Ron yesterday,” he explained wearily. “But none of us really know what to tell them,” Gideon admitted. 

 

“It’s not exactly an easy thing to tell adults who will understand, but how do you even begin to explain to children that their baby brother is gone?” Fabian sighed sitting down at the table. 

 

“We will sit down as a family later, when Molly has had at least some rest, and explain everything as best we can,” Gideon said, looking at his brother, who let out another sigh and nodded. It was at that moment that Arthur came into the kitchen, looking as tired as Dumbledore had ever seen him.

 

“I am so sorry, Arthur,” Dumbledore said earnestly, reaching out to clasp one of the man’s hands between his own. “I wish there was something I could do.”

 

“I think we all wish that, sir,” Arthur told him, forcing a smile that didn’t even come close to reaching his eyes, before peering into the living room to check on his children. 

 

Dumbledore followed the man’s gaze to where the twins were now sat on the floor playing with Charlie and Bill; Percy was still happily at his little desk. “I cannot imagine how difficult this must be for you all. Particularly the children,” the Headmaster commented, seeing the concern on Arthur’s face as he looked at them.

 

“I am worried about Molly too,” Arthur told him, sharing a look with his wife’s twin brothers, that spoke of their shared concern. 

 

“All this stress cannot be good for the baby,” Fabian agreed, as he collected several mugs from one of the cupboards and added tea to the teapot. 

 

“And it was late by the time the Aurors all left yesterday,” Gideon pointed out, as he decanted the boiling water into a pot Fabian had just sorted, the two of the working in a natural unity that spoke a great deal of their closeness.

 

“And then she got next to no sleep last night…” Arthur told them; though it didn’t look like he had slept much either, not that this surprised anyone in the circumstances. 

 

“But she is sleeping now?” Dumbledore asked hopefully, glancing up at the ceiling. Arthur let out a sad but relieved sigh and nodded his head. 

 

“She is, thankfully,” Arthur confirmed, leaning against the worksurface, and looking as though it was more or less all that was keeping him on his feet. 

 

“I was worried that one of us might have to put a mild sleeping potion or some dreamless sleep in her tea,” Gideon commented, causing the others to turn to look at him. 

 

“But it thankfully did not come to that,” Fabian added pointedly, earning a nod of agreement from his brother. 

 

“Though we don’t know how long she will actually stay asleep,” Arthur pointed out wryly. As much as he didn’t like the idea of drugging his wife, he knew that Gideon had a point and that they might have to at some point in the next few days if she didn’t manage to get some rest on her own.

 

Dumbledore nodded his understanding, hoping that Molly could manage to rest enough without potion assistance because the family didn’t really need anything else to worry about. The Headmaster was certainly reluctant to put Arthur under any more stress, knowing that the man was worried about his missing son and his pregnant wife’s health, but there were questions he still had to ask. 

 

“Was there nothing strange?” the Headmaster asked, and Arthur looked up and him and shook his head. “No indication that something was different? Nothing that, even if only in hindsight, struck you as odd?” 

 

“No, nothing; nothing at all,” Arthur said with a tone of desperation, “I have been asking myself the same thing, racking my brain, ever since Molly found his cot empty.” He paused for a moment to gather himself, the words clearly painful to speak, “I just can’t understand why. Why our little boy? Why were our other boys left alone? Though don’t get me wrong, I am very glad they were, but...”

 

“I wish I had answers for you, Arthur,” Dumbledore told him, resting his hand on the man’s arm. He had spent the last few months desperately searching for those very answers for two other families, but with no luck, and he hated that even more now in the face of Ron’s kidnapping. “What did the Aurors have to say?”

 

“They didn’t have any more answers than you do,” Arthur snapped, pulling away and turning to look out of the window, staring off into the distance. “Nobody has anything more to offer than ‘sorry’. We don’t need ‘sorry’, we need our son back!” he exclaimed, slamming his hand down on the worksurface.

 

“Arthur! We are all worried and stressed, but that’s no reason to-”

 

“That is quite alright, Fabian,” Dumbledore interrupted, watching as Arthur took a slow calming breath. The kitchen was silent other than the soft clinking sounds of Gideon pouring the tea.

 

Dumbledore waited quietly, giving Arthur a moment before speaking again. “I am certain that the Aurors are doing everything in their power to make that happen, to bring Ronald home,” Dumbledore assured him, quite unfazed by Arthur’s outburst, and accepting a cup of tea as Gideon started handing them out. 

 

“I know,” Arthur said with a sigh, taking a moment to sip from his own cup. “But I have a horrible feeling that it’s not going to be enough,” Arthur admitted sadly. Gideon and Fabian exchanged a look, but neither of them knew what to say to reassure their brother-in-law. “Frank was here, with the Aurors,” Arthur continued. “His boy, Neville is about eight months old, not much younger than Ron really. I could see him putting himself in our shoes and even he was offering sympathies not hope.”

 

Dumbledore frowned slightly to himself; though he did believe that the Aurors would do their best to bring the youngest Weasley boy home, he silently agreed with Arthur, that it may not be enough. There was something bigger going on, something that had to do with babies going missing. However, his thought process was interrupted before he could fully follow it through.

 

“We’ll find him,” Molly said from the entrance to the kitchen and the four men turned to her. “Don’t you dare give up on our little boy, Arthur Weasley,” she said firmly, her hand pressed against the slight curve of her four month pregnancy bump. 

 

Gideon set his cup of tea down, moving over to his sister, only to be waved off while she continued looking at Arthur, clearly waiting for the man to say something. 

 

“Never, my love,” Arthur promised sincerely, putting his tea down and hurrying over to her side, horrified that she would even think he might. “There is nothing on this earth that could make me give up on finding Ron! Now, what happened to you getting rest?” he asked fondly.

 

Molly sighed. “Nightmare, woke me up. How are the boys doing?” she asked, not even trying to be subtle about her change of subject. “Have they had something to eat?”

 

“They are fine,” Gideon spoke, as it had been he and Fabian keeping an eye on the kids most of the morning; Arthur was trying, but he was understandably tired and distracted.

 

“They all ate,” Fabian said when Molly turned her attention toward them. “Percy had a bit of a temper-tantrum while the others were eating, but he is having a sandwich at his desk in the living room now.”

 

“You really should be getting some more sleep though,” Gideon said, worry for his sister clearly showing on his face. “Both of you,” he added with a glance at Arthur.

 

“I can’t!” Molly snapped irritably, glaring at her brother. “I close my eyes and I can see him. I lie down in a quiet room and my ears are filled with his cries. I just can’t. I need to be with the boys,” she said, turning and heading back into the living room. 

 

Albus could hear the happy cries of the other Weasley children as they spotted their mother, but the moment was broken by the suppressed sob that Arthur let out. The man was watching his family, his hand over his mouth to muffle the heart-wrenching sound. Gideon and Fabian looked at each other, almost unsure of what to do, before Fabian sighed and walked over to his brother-in-law, wrapping his arms around him and offering what support he could. 

 

Dumbledore's heart truly went out to this family. He wished that he could offer hope to them, hope that Ron would be returned safe and sound and everything would be right again, but the more he dug, the more he uncovered, the more he had realised that there was little hope he could offer. All he could promise was that he would not stop looking, not for Ron, not for the other children that had gone missing. 

 

“Dad?” the small uncertain voice said. Fabian and Gideon looked toward the door to see Bill to standing in the doorway. The ten year old was looking at his father in concern, and Arthur composed himself quickly; the last thing any of his children needed was to see him like this right now. 

 

“Yes Bill, what did you need?” Arthur asked, turning to face his eldest son. Bill held up an empty cup.

 

“George wanted something to drink,” Bill explained and Arthur nodded, going over to take the cup from Bill so he could fill it. 

 

“How you holding up?” Gideon asked and Bill looked toward his uncle, shrugging a shoulder unsure of how to answer that question. 

 

“Okay,” the ten year old answered, looking back at Arthur again. Bill bit his lower lip as he continued watching his father move around the kitchen. Gideon could almost see his nephew silently debating with himself, and before Gideon could ask what was on his mind, the boy spoke again, catching them all by surprise with his words. 

 

“Ron’s going to be okay, ” Bill said decisively, looking directly at his father. Arthur nearly dropped the cup as he turned to look at Bill, before a small smile spread across his face, this one a little more genuine than the one that Dumbledore had seen when he first arrived. 

 

“Of course he will,” Arthur said, setting the cup down, going back over to Bill and pulling the ten year old into a hug. “Ron will be back with us in no time,” Arthur said. Bill leaned into the hug, wrapping his arms around his father’s waist hugging him back tightly. 

 

“He’s a Weasley, he’s going to be okay,” Bill said and Arthur tightened his arms around Bill, hugging him tighter for a second before he felt a tiny hand tapping on his leg. Letting go Arthur looked down and smiled when he saw George. 

 

“Did you come in here looking for your drink?” Arthur asked, bending down to pick George up. 

 

“Fursty, Da,” George said with a nod of his head. 

 

“Then let’s get you that drink,” Arthur smiled and carried George over to where he had put the cup down, handing it to his son. “Why don’t you go back into the living room with your big brother and play?” he suggested but George shook his head. 

 

“No,” George said stubbornly, shaking his head and taking a few gulps of his drink.

 

Fabian chuckled, shaking his head. George was normally a very clingy child, but it seemed to be a lot worse today, making the two year old even more stubborn than usual. Looking around when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he raised an eyebrow at his brother when Gideon motioned for him to follow. Dumbledore continued watching Arthur with his two sons for a moment longer before he followed Gideon and Fabian out the kitchen door into the back yard. 

 

“Well?” Gideon asked, once the door had closed behind them, and he had turned to face the Headmaster. “Is this just like those other cases?” he asked. 

 

“It is very similar,” Dumbledore sighed sadly. “I will keep looking for answers, and I promise that we will find the missing children, though it may take some time, as whoever is behind this has left no clues,” Dumbledore said. 

 

Fabian clenched his hands into fists. “It makes no sense!” he practically shouted only to be shushed by Gideon. 

 

“You’re right, Fab, it doesn’t make any sense. Why only take Ron, when there were other kids here too? And even if they were only looking for younger kids, Fred and George are only two, so why not them? But none of that matters,” Gideon said and looked toward Dumbledore. “We are going to be staying here for a while. If there is an emergency in the Order, one of us can be available, but our family needs us right now,” Gideon said.

 

Dumbledore nodded his understanding. “I will let you know if I find anything,” the Headmaster assured them. The brothers nodded. “Now go and spend time with your family, and please let Arthur and Molly know that if they need anything at all, I will do whatever I can to help,” Dumbledore said, earning grateful smiles from both Gideon and Fabian. 

 

They watched as Dumbledore made his way down the pathway, passed the garden gate and apparated away. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Fabian turned and walked back into the house. Trusting that Gideon would follow.

 

Arthur was sat at the table, still holding George as the two year old happily snuggled into his father’s chest. Bill seemed to have taken it upon himself to pick up the forgotten mugs of tea and wash them out. Fabian headed over to his nephew and began helping with the self appointed task, while Gideon, who had come inside as well, went toward the living room to check on the family there. 

 

Entering the living room Gideon looked at the scene before him; Molly was sitting in a rocking chair holding Fred, the two year old looked to have fallen asleep curled up in his mother’s lap, while Charlie was entertaining Percy by reading a book about Dragons. Percy didn’t seem to be all that interested in the book, but at the same time seemed to want the attention from his older brother. 

 

“Did Dumbledore leave already?” Molly asked, keeping her voice quiet so as not to wake her napping son. 

 

Gideon nodded. “He had some other business he had to get to...” Gideon trailed off watching his sister as she looked down sadly. 

 

“You and Fabian do not have to stay here. I know that there are more important things that you two need to be doing,” Molly said and Gideon sighed, walking over and kneeling on the floor next to the rocking chair, reaching up and gently running his fingers through Fred’s hair as he watched his nephew sleep. 

 

“Our family is what is important, that is why Fab and I are in the Order, that is why we fight, to keep you all safe,” Gideon said, looking up at Molly, who was now watching him with unshed tears in her eyes. “We are staying right here.”

 

\----------------x

 

_ August 1981 _

 

It had been four months since Ron had been kidnapped, and there was still no sign of the red-headed child. However, it was far too soon to give up hope; the Aurors were still working hard trying to locate not only the missing Weasley child, but the other children too. There were still open cases of missing children dating back at least three years. 

 

Though kidnappings were not unheard of, and people disappeared without a trace, Frank had noticed an unusual pattern with the recent kidnappings; all the children that had gone missing had been around the age of one year old. When he had mentioned this to Dumbledore at the end of the last Order meeting, the Headmaster had agreed with his conclusions. 

 

“You’re not still trying to put all those cases together are you, Longbottom?” John Dawlish, one of the other Aurors, asked, stuffing a completed report into the completed pile for the Head of Department to sign off on and gathering his things to head home for the night. 

 

Frank looked up from the folders spread across his desk with surprise, having been so lost in his own thoughts. He looked around and realised that almost everyone else was gone and a quick tempus spell told him that it was far later than he had intended to stay. 

 

“I really think there’s something to it, John,” Frank said with exasperation. He was sure that these kidnappings were linked, had been for some time, but his colleagues either couldn’t or didn’t want to see it. He suspected, at least as far as their boss was concerned, that it was more the latter. With everything going on with Voldemort, Frank did understand not wanting to add to their workload, but he couldn’t sit back and ignore what was happening to these young children.

 

“On your head be it,” Dawlish said with a shrug of his shoulders as he approached Frank’s desk and glanced over the files spread out there. “But the boss won’t like it if you spend too much time on it. He already told you that he wasn’t going to make those into one case, and you know perfectly well that he won’t like having to repeat himself.”

 

“Moody thinks I have something,” Frank pointed out, leaning back in his chair to fix the other man with a stern look but John just scoffed derisively.    
  


“Having Mad-eye on your side doesn’t exactly do you any favours, Frank,” Dawlish pointed out and Frank narrowed his eyes in annoyance. “Just saying, Moody is paranoid, and whether you’re right or not, having him as your main supporter won’t help convince anyone.”

 

“If people would just look at the files, they would be able to see what I’m seeing,” Frank said in annoyance. “Look at this one here,” he pointed to the folder he had been looking at. “The Diggory boy has been missing for two and half years; he had just turned one when he was taken from his cot in the middle of the night, his parents didn’t hear anything, there was no trace of a break in, their wards were even still up,” Frank pointed out. 

 

Dawlish looked as if he were going to say something but Frank continued before he had a chance to speak. 

 

“And this one,” Frank held up another folder. “Lee Jordan,” he said, before holding up folder after folder as he listed off names. “Rodger Davis, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Terry Boot, all of them, the same thing! I refuse to sit here and have someone tell me that there’s no connection between any of these, the most recent kidnapping being Arthur Weasley’s youngest boy,” Frank sighed, looking down at the folders again. “At this point I don’t really care if this get’s approved to be one case or not, I’m going to continue working on it as if it was one,” 

 

“Alright, I get it,” Dawlish said with resignation. “Look, I’ll help you if and when I can, okay? There is obviously some connection that you’re seeing, and even I can admit that the amount of missing kids over the past few years has been a little high.” 

 

Dawlish picked up one of the folders looking it over; this folder belonged to a Susan Bones, who had been taken in January and whose family had all but been wiped out by Death Eaters in November. The poor girl would have no one but her one remaining Aunt to come back to even if they could find her. John let out a small sigh and put the file back down on the worryingly large pile. 

 

“For now, why don’t you pack all these up, go home to your wife and child,” Dawlish suggested, feeling exhausted even looking at what Frank was trying to piece together. “And I can help you with this starting tomorrow.” 

 

Frank gave Dawlish a grateful smile. “Thank you,” he said earnestly, glad to have at least one other person in the department taking him seriously. 

 

“So long as you know it’s your head on the chopping block if we get in trouble for this,” Dawlish said as he helped Frank start stacking the files up into a neat pile. 

 

Frank let out a small chuckle nodding his head. “Of course, this is all my crazy idea after all,” he said, standing up from his desk once the files were neatly stacked and put away for the night. “Thank you though, this will be easier with even a little bit of help.”

 

“Maybe now you’ll stop working so late?” Dawlish suggested while he watched Frank gather up his things so they could both head home. 

 

“I really didn’t mean to stay so late today, but you saw that stack of folders, that is a lot of children to just go missing without a trace, and all when they’re around a year old,” Frank said, following Dawlish toward the elevator. 

 

“I have to wonder, are you working so hard on this case because you have a son that just turned a year old?” Dawlish questioned, stepping into the elevator and looking at Frank, who stepped in beside him. 

 

Frank let out a long sigh, closing his eyes; he would be lying if he said that the thought had not crossed his mind. Every new case that came in he couldn’t help but think, ‘what if it was Neville’; even the thought of his son being kidnapped had prompted him to put up stronger wards around his house and alarms around his son’s cot. He was determined that nothing was going to be getting near his son without him or his wife knowing about it. 

 

“It’s hard not to think of something like that while working on this case,” Frank finally said. 

 

“I guess I can understand that,” Dawlish said and the two of them fell silent as they rode the elevator down. When it came to a stop and the doors opened Dawlish looked at Frank. “I suppose I will see you in the morning, though maybe you should take the morning off. After working late so often, I’m sure your wife and kid miss you.” 

 

Frank laughed at that but nodded his agreement. “If I get in trouble for showing up late, I’ll just let them know you gave me permission to sleep in,” Frank said, heading toward one of the fireplaces. Taking some of the floo powder provided, he threw it into the fireplace, watching the flames turn green before stepping in and heading home.

 

As Frank stepped out of the floo into his sitting room, he wasn’t all that surprised to find the place dark; he really had remained at work a lot longer than he had intended to. Being as quiet as he could, he made his way upstairs wondering if Alice had gone to bed early; Neville was cutting a tooth at the moment and Frank knew that their son’s fussing was leaving Alice exhausted.

 

He poked his head around the door to Neville’s nursery, his brow furrowing at the sight of the dark, empty room. “Alice?” he called out, heading down the hallway towards their bedroom, assuming that his wife had decided to take their son to bed with her, as she tended to do when Neville wouldn’t settle. “Alice?” he called out a little more quietly, not wanting to wake his family if they were sleeping. 

 

However, as he stepped into his bedroom, it was immediately apparent that Alice was not asleep, and that something was terribly wrong. Alice was sat on the floor at the foot of their bed, her knees up to her chest as she held Neville’s blanket in clenched fists, close to her chest. Her quiet sobs were the only sound in the room. 

 

“Merlin, Alice!” Frank cried out, rushing forward and dropping to his knees next to his wife. He reached out and tipped her face to look up at him. “Alice,” he said, his voice a little more than a whisper, dreading what he already knew his wife was going to tell him. 

 

“They took him,” Alice said, and from her expression, Frank could tell that his wife was in shock. “They took him,” she said again, heavy tears falling unbidden down her face. 

 

“Neville. Alice, where’s Neville?” Frank asked desperately, not wanting to believe what his wife was telling him. He didn’t want to hear it, it was what he had feared most after finding the connection between all those other kidnappings.

 

“They took him,” Alice said again, opening her mouth to say more but finding herself without words, she leaned sideways, all but falling into her husband’s arms,her crying getting worse. “They took Neville,” she sobbed, and Frank’s arms tightening around her as he tried to calm his own racing heart. 

 

“Who took him, Alice?” Frank asked urgently, pulling his wife back from his embrace to look her in the eye, his Auror instincts kicking in. “Who, Alice?” But his wife simply shook her head, her hands curling in his shirt, holding on for dear life, as though frightened that he too would slip through her fingers.

 

“THEY took him,” Alice said as if willing him to understand who ‘they’ were. Frank wanted to push her for answers; she had seen someone, or something, take their son, but was unable to tell him who it had been. However, as he looked at his wife, he knew he couldn’t push her; whatever she had seen had frightened her. Alice was as good of an Auror as he was, if not better, and certainly would not have just let anyone come in here and take their son. 

 

“I’m sorry, I don’t know who ‘they’ are,” Frank said, pulling his wife closer to him. “You saw who took him?” Frank asked, frowning when he didn’t get an answer. He glanced down at her and saw that she was looking at Neville’s blanket, the one she had been holding when he found her. “We need to contact Dumbledore,” Frank said, moving to stand up so he could help Alice to her feet, but she held on tighter to him. Frank knelt back down and looked her in the eye. 

 

“Alice, we need to contact Dumbledore, he has to know about this. We are going to get Neville back,” Frank said, though he couldn’t help but feel that he was making an empty promise, after all, the Aurors hadn’t found any of the other missing children; the only thing that made a difference now was that Alice had actually seen something, it was a lead that they had never had before. 

 

Alice shook her head. “They took him, Frank, he… he’s not coming back,” she sounded so defeated as she said this. 

 

“No, don’t think like that! We will get him back, I promise, Alice, we will get him back,” Frank said firmly, standing up again and gently pulling Alice to her feet. He watched as his wife quickly snatched Neville’s blanket off the floor where it had fallen, holding it close to her once again. 

 

Frank lead her out of their bedroom, taking her downstairs, where he sat her down on the couch. “I need to call Dumbledore now,” Frank said, frowning when Alice gave no indication that she had even heard him. He let her go, watching her for a moment before he turned toward the fireplace, pulling out his wand and starting a quick fire before grabbing the floo powder as he knelt down and threw it into the flames. 

 

“Headmaster’s office, Hogwarts” he instructed as he put his head into the fire. “Albus,” he said breathlessly as the office came into focus and he saw Dumbledore turn from the bookcase he had been examining, to look towards the fireplace.

 

“Frank,” the Headmaster said, sounding more than a little surprised to see the man there. “Is everything okay?” he asked, crossing the office and kneeling down to be able to better see Frank.

 

“No, Albus, it’s not. Far from it,” Frank said sadly. It was taking all his will power to hold himself together but he had to do it for Neville’s sake. “Neville’s been taken.”

 

“Merlin,” Dumbledore gasped out, allowing his heart to break for the Longbottom family for just a moment, before forcing himself into action. “Move aside, Frank, I’m coming through. Have you contacted the Aurors yet?”

 

“No, I wanted you here first,” Frank told him. “The Aurors completely failed to find any of the others and I can’t trust them to find my son. But Albus… Alice saw whoever it was,” he added, watching the Headmaster for his reaction. 

 

“She saw them?” Albus asked in surprise, hope flaring within him for all the children that had been taken. “Who did she see?”

 

Frank sighed heavily. “I don’t know, I think there is something keeping her from saying, but I am sure she knows. I need your help, Albus, please. Help us find him, help Alice tell us what she knows.”

 

“Of course,” Albus promised earnestly. “I will be right over,” Dumbledore said. 

 

Frank nodded and removed his head from the fire, stepping back to the couch where he had left Alice sitting. She was still holding tightly to Neville’s blanket, and every now and then she would repeat, “they took him.” Frank felt sorrow and anger both welling up inside him, sorrow for his lost son, anger at whoever dared kidnap his little boy, and at what they had done to his wife to reduce her to this. 

 

The fireplace flared green as Dumbledore stepped through. “I contacted Moody, he will be coming through as well in a few minutes, I have informed him what you told me,” Dumbledore said and Frank nodded his head, thankful that Dumbledore had called Mad-Eye; if anyone could figure out what was keeping Alice from talking, it was him. 

 

“I am also going to call Dawlish. He agreed to help with the missing children case.” Frank was reluctant to inform anyone else in the Auror office, but he knew that was because no one was going to be of any help to him or his wife, they would come in and ask questions that Frank had already gone over in his head, and the only person who could answer any useful questions was currently unable to. 

 

Dumbledore nodded before turning his attention toward Alice, who hadn’t even looked up or acknowledged that anyone else was even in the room. Taking a few steps forward, Dumbledore sat on the couch next to her. “Alice?” he said, trying to gain her attention. 

 

Alice looked up at Dumbledore, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “They took him,” Alice said. 

 

“That’s all she’s been saying,” Frank informed Dumbledore, who merely nodded but didn’t turn his attention away from the distressed woman. 

 

“Frank has informed me that you are unable to tell us who they are,” Dumbledore said. “Perhaps you could answer yes and no questions?” He suggested and Alice shook her head at that. “Can you give it a try?” 

 

“I… can’t…” Alice said tears falling down her cheeks again as she turned away from the Headmaster, burying her face in Neville’s blanket, allowing the grief and shock of losing her son to overtake her once again. 

 

Frank was by her side then, pulling her close and whispering words of comfort to her. The fireplace flared to life again and Moody stepped out carrying a large bag with him, however Frank only spared him a glance, keeping his attention mostly on his distraught wife. “It will be okay, Alice,” he whispered to her, desperately hoping his words were the truth, but his wife simply continued to sob quietly into the blanket. 

 

“Frank,” Dumbledore said softly and Frank turned to look at the Headmaster. “Maybe you should fetch Dawlish,” he suggested, and Moody nodded curtly in agreement. “An official Auror’s report needs to be filed.”

 

Frank inclined his head with a sigh, before pressing a kiss to Alice’s temple. “I will be right back,” he promised. “Albus and Alastor are going to stay with you,” he assured her, but his wife didn’t even seem to hear him, or notice as he got back to his feet. 

 

“We will do everything we can,” Albus assured Frank, resting a hand on the man’s shoulder as Frank passed. Frank just nodded vaguely as he headed for the floo, wondering if he was ever going to see his son again. 

 

\----------------x

 

It was just shy of a week after Neville's kidnapping that Dumbledore called for a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix; he felt it was past time that they talked specifically about the threat facing the young children of witches and wizards. Something had to be done about this before more children were lost to this unknown threat. 

 

They had done all they could to extract answers from Alice Longbottom, from Veritaserum to Legilimency, and even the Imperius Curse but it had all been in vain. It was clear that she had seen something of importance and Alastor Moody had wanted to press on until they got answers, but Dumbledore had put his foot down; he was not going to sacrifice Alice’s sanity, no matter how willingly she would give it. He didn’t regret insisting that Alastor stopped, but that regrettably left them with no more information than they had had when any of the other children had been taken.

 

The members gathered together at the McKinnon family home, one of the few places that was both large and private enough for their needs. Mostly they gathered into small groups around the room, chatting and catching up with those they didn’t get to speak to often, or had to pretend not to know in public. 

 

Dumbledore looked around the room, Fabian was sat with Frank and Alice, as Gideon had remained at the Burrow to keep watch over the family, but as this meeting was important, Dumbledore had insisted that at least one of the brothers attend. Letting out a small sigh, Dumbledore decided it was time to officially start the meeting. 

 

“If we can all take a seat, there is much that we need to discuss this evening,” Dumbledore said gaining everyone’s attention, and watching as those who weren’t already sitting, found a seat. Soon enough the room was silent and all eyes were fixed on Dumbledore. 

 

“What’s so important?” Mundungus asked impatiently, from the other end of the room, where he was sat between Elphias Doge and Benjy Fenwick. “I had an important business meeting, I did. The geezer I were meeting ‘ll find someone else,” he grumbled. “This is costing me money, it is.”

 

“Shut it, Mundungus,” Moody snapped in annoyance, and when Mundungus fell quiet, the Auror gave Albus a look to tell him to go on. 

 

“As most of you are aware, nearly a week ago young Neville Longbottom was taken from his home,” Albus said, his eyes drifting to where Alice and Frank were sat off to his left, close to Fabian and to Marlene McKinnon, whose house they were currently using.

 

Mutterings broke out around the table, those who hadn’t heard, asking questions of those around them, trying to figure out how and when this had happened. 

 

“People,” Fabian said loudly, clapping his hands and drawing everyone’s attention to him. “I know this is a shock to some of you, particularly given that it was only four months since my own nephew was taken, but if you will give Albus a chance he will explain what we know.”

 

“Thank you, Fabian,” Dumbledore said with a nod of his head. “As Fabian pointed out, this is not the first time this has happened to a child related to this Order. Frank, Alastor and I have been looking into this and it has become clear that there is a pattern to these incidents.”

 

“How can you find a pattern from just two abductions?” Benjy Fenwick questioned, looking sceptical; around the room, there were numerous mutterings of agreement. 

 

“If people would stop talking and let him finish, maybe he’d tell you why?” Sirius suggested earning a sharp elbow in the side from Remus, who was sitting next to him. 

 

“There have been more than two children taken from their homes,” Dumbledore replied, but this time he kept talking, even when people started whispering again. “Young Susan Bones-”

 

“Was killed with the rest of her family,” Benjy interrupted again. 

 

“Oh for the love of, Benjy! Shut the fuck up and let him finish!” Sirius snapped, this time earning a smack on his head from Remus, most likely from the language he had used. But regardless of the physical abuse he was receiving from the werewolf, Sirius was still satisfied that he had gotten Benjy to shut his mouth.

 

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, “Susan Bones was not killed with the rest of her family, though that was believed to be true. She was not in the house the night of the attack, because she was already missing.”

 

“Since when?” Marlene asked, looking quite alarmed by this news. She had been devastated by the murders of the Bones family, particularly Susan’s mother, who had been a good friend of hers for many years. The news that little Susan might still be alive somewhere, but out of reach, was so bittersweet.

 

“Since last October,” Frank said, having read Susan’s file more times than he would like to admit. “She’s been missing for nearly ten months. And don’t think we haven’t turned over every stone to try and find her.”

 

“Frank is right,” Albus said. “We have tried everything we could think of to locate Susan, just as we are doing for Ron and Neville. However, this has so far proven fruitless, which is one of the reasons that I am bringing this to your attention. I am hopeful that between us, we might be able to find something to go on.”

 

“I’m not saying there isn’t a link, and I mean no disrespect,” Dedalus said, nodding to Alice, Frank and Fabian, before turning to look towards Dumbledore, “but three children, spaced out over ten months… are we certain they are connected?”

 

“It’s more than three,” Sirius burst out, apparently unable to hold himself back any longer. “It’s not just Susan, Neville and Ron,” he added, ignoring the annoyed look that Remus was giving him. “They should know,” he added, glancing to Dumbledore.

 

The Headmaster sighed quietly but nodded his head in agreement. “There is one m....”

 

However, Dumbledore’s words were cut off when one side of the McKinnon family home exploded, one wall of the room flying inwards and sending most of the Order of the Phoenix to the ground in a cloud of bricks, wood, dust and glass. The sounds of shouts and cries could be made out as the sound of the explosion passed, leaving a ringing in their ears.

 

There was barely any time for them to recover from the shock of the blast before spells were being fired into the room through the now large hole in the wall. The Order members were quickly trying to get themselves free of the rubble, a few of them managing to throw up shields to protect the others and even one or two managing to throw stunning spells towards their attackers.

 

“Anti-Apparition wards!” Mundungus bellowed. He had tried to make a quick escape by apparating away but was now starting to panic, given he had been unable to. “Bloody wards!” he shouted, clambering over the rubble, trying to get to the door.

 

“Watch it, Dung!” Fabian exclaimed when the man barged into him in his hurry. Fabian and Remus were trying to dodge incoming spells while freeing Sirius, whose leg had been trapped under a large piece of the wall.

 

“Stupid wall!” Sirius cursed trying to pull his leg free, while also looking around. “Where’s Peter?” he asked, looking a little panicked when he didn’t immediately see him. Twisting around as best he could, but he couldn’t see him. 

 

“Sirius, sit still! We’ll find Peter when we get you free,” Remus said as he and Fabian removed more of the rubble. 

 

“This is taking to long,” Fabian cursed as he dodged another spell, returning fire toward the person who had cast it, before looking back at Sirius. “Don’t move,” Fabian warned aiming his wand at Sirius’ trapped leg. “Diffindo,” Fabian said and cut away the larger pieces of the wall. 

 

Pulling his leg free once he felt like he could move it, Sirius stood, leaning on Remus as his leg throbbed painfully from the several cuts, and a particularly large gash. “I’m free! Now, where’s Peter?” Sirius demanded, looking around now that he could see the fight better, but he still couldn’t see their friend, just half the Order firing spells towards people he could now see to be Death Eaters. 

 

“Peter can take care of himself,” Remus said as Fabian turned to go help Frank, Alice and Moody, who were trying to hold their own. “Let’s get you out of here,” Remus tried adjusted his hold on Sirius so he could start maneuvering them around the fight and get them out. “We can’t let them get you, for James and Lily’s sake,” he added, hoping to persuade his friend; however, it didn’t have the effect he had expected.

 

“No, I’m not!” Sirius insisted, protesting against Remus’ hold. The shock of that statement seemed to be enough to stop the werewolf’s attempts to move him, the two of them ducking beneath a spell which exploded on the other wall. “Peter, it’s Peter, he’s their secret keeper We can’t let them get hold of him,” he explained.  

 

“What are you talking about?” Remus demanded, staring at Sirius in confusion.“You-”

 

“I was to much of an obvious choice! Remus, we can discuss this AFTER we find Peter!” Sirius snapped, shooting a blasting spell towards a Death Eater trying to enter the house, before going back to trying to spot Peter; he was becoming increasingly concerned about their friend and was becoming worried that he might have already been caught or something. 

 

“Right, right,” Remus said, taking in the madness all around them. Benjy was with Frank and Alice, seemingly trying to get the two of them to run; Hagrid was picking up the biggest pieces of rubble he could, sending them flying towards any Death Eaters he saw. Dumbledore was throwing up shields left and right, while Moody was firing off spells quicker than Remus could keep track of.

 

“The little shit has probably turned himself into a rat,” Sirius snarled between clenched teeth, both frustrated at not being able to find him, and hoping that he was right, because then the Death Eaters wouldn’t be able to find Peter either. Remus nodded his agreement.

 

“Remus, you get him out of here,” Fabian said, motioning to Sirius, “He’s no good here with that leg, I’ll keep an eye out for Peter,” Fabian said, shooting off a few spells and managed to take out a couple Death Eaters that had been too busy to notice who was firing at them. 

 

“Benjy!” A shout across the room had them all looking just in time to see their comrade fall to the ground. The Death Eater that had shot the killing curse was now aiming for Alice and Frank, who had nearly made their own escape. 

 

Fabian glared at Remus. “You two. Leave. Now!” he snapped before charging into the fight, going for the Death Eater that had taken down Benjy.

 

Dumbledore and Moody were already two steps ahead of him though, and both of them were clearly on the offensive now, waves of magic attacking the Death Eaters, as many of the other Order members fled the house, going through other rooms in the house to find an escape, to get beyond the anti-apparition wards that the Death Eaters had put up.

 

“Bloody hell,” Sirius exclaimed at the impressive sight, allowing Remus to drag him off in the direction that he had just seen Alice and Frank heading. Hagrid following them with Marlene McKinnon’s limp body in his arms and it looked like Fabian was using Moody and Dumbledore’s spells as cover to get Benjy’s body, even though they all knew there was nothing the would be able to do for the man now.

 

“Fabian!” Remus called out. He understood what Fabian was trying to do, that he didn’t want to leave Benjy there in the rubble, but with spells still being fired into the house, it seemed like a terrible idea.

 

A cry of shocked pain sounded out, and Remus’ eyes moved to Moody, who leg seemed to have been set on fire, the building starting to catch around him too, the exposed timber beginning to burn. However, Remus wasn’t the only one who had been distracted. Fabian shouted out as a spell caught him in the side, his clothes quickly starting to show the blood from his wound. 

 

“Go,” Remus said to Sirius, pushing him in the direction of the door the others had gone through, and darting back across the room towards Fabian.

 

Thankfully, the Death Eaters seemed to have taken all they could stand of Dumbledore’s onslaught because there were distinctive pops just outside the house that told them that the anti-apparition wards had been lifted. It was all the Order members needed to hear. Dumbledore grabbed hold of Moody and Remus reached for Fabian, and they apparated out into the grounds of the house. 

 

Fabian leaned heavily on Remus as they landed, one hand clutching at his bleeding side, as Dumbledore dealt with Moody’s burns as best he could. “Thanks, Remus,” Fabian said, giving the werewolf half a smile, as Remus checked his injury and cast a spell to stop the worst of the bleeding. 

 

“There are plenty of people in the Order who can get themselves hurt from doing something reckless, please don’t start turning into one of them,” Remus chastised, letting out a relieved sigh when he spotted several of the other Order members heading their way, having got out of the house that was now most definitely on fire. 

 

“No need to lecture me, I’m going to be getting an earful from both Gideon and Molly when I get back to the Burrow,” Fabian sighed already anticipating what his family would be saying to him about his reckless behavior tonight.

 

“I told you I can walk fine in my own!” Sirius’ loud voice was heard as tried to get away from where both Frank and Alice were helping him along, though he didn’t seem to be fighting them too much as he was lead over to where Remus was. 

 

“Here, I think this belongs to you,” Frank said with a small smirk as he let go of Sirius, watching in slight amusement as the injured man practically fell to the ground. 

 

“Hey! Be a little more gentle! I’m injured here!” Sirius complained. 

 

“But you can walk perfectly fine on your own,” Frank said, chuckling at the glare that Sirius gave him. 

 

Sirius sighed and looked away from Frank, scanning the area and frowned as he became serious once more. “Where’s Peter? I don’t see him here,” Sirius said. 

 

“There!” Remus exclaimed, drawing almost everyone’s attention to him as he rushed across the garden a little and grabbed hold of a rat that was making a run for the hedges, trying to get away from the fire. “You gave us such a scare, Peter,” he chastised, looking up to talk to Sirius only to discover he was under numerous questioning looks.

 

“Way to give away our biggest secret, Remus,” Sirius said rolling his eyes before turning to face the quelling look of the Headmaster who made him feel even younger than his twenty-one years. “We can totally explain,” he said with a nervous chuckle and an innocent smile that nobody was buying. 


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Emily for her work beta-ing this chapter.

_ October 1981 _

 

Voldemort was gleeful, much to the delightful, cowering fear of his Death Eaters. Ten long months he had been searching. Ten long months since the Potters had slipped out of his grasp. Ten infuriating months of plotting, planning, and searching, just so that he could destroy the one thing that was a true threat to him and the future he had envisioned. 

 

He was not going to allow the prophecy that Snape had witnessed to come true. After all the lengths he had gone to to ensure his own immortality, he would not risk it at the hands of the Potter boy. He would kill the child and then there would be nothing that could stand in his way.

 

And if there was one thing Voldemort had learned over the years, it was patience. Without patience he would not have been able to find the Potters secret keeper, and it was thanks to that patience that he was now been standing on the front lawn of the Potters’ home. As he moved closer to the window, he watched James Potter simply sitting quietly on the sofa, the mudblood, Lily Potter, wandering around and talking incessantly; he couldn’t hear her words, not that he cared to. 

 

What pleased him most was how oblivious they both were to the danger lurking just outside, to his presence, to how soon their world was going to crumble. It amused Voldemort somewhat to watch them ignorantly continuing on with their happy lives, but he could not see the Potter boy and he was forced to conclude that the child was not in the room with his parents.

 

Seeing no reason to wait any longer, Voldemort moved to the front door of the house, running his long fingers over the wood, relishing that he could see this place, that he could touch it now, despite all the futile plans that Albus Dumbledore had made to protect those within.

 

A sinister smile spread across his face as he drew his wand, the pale wood resting gently between his fingers as he took a moment to enjoy the calm before the kill, to let the anticipation of Death settle in his bones. He inhaled deeply; it was almost like he could smell the pitiful innocence in the very air around him and he bathed in the prospect of bringing suffering enough to engulf it.

 

With a swish of his wand, he wordlessly blasted the door from its hinges, sending it flying into the hallway beyond with a loud crash. He heard dual screams from the front room, the sound having finally alerted him to their presence. 

 

“Lily, run!” Voldemort heard James shout, and he laughed at the futility of it. There would be no escape; he had placed his own wards around the property to see to that. Wand still held, Voldemort calmly made his way into the house, stepping over the splinters of wood that littered the hallway; he didn’t go into the front room, waiting instead for the two to come to him. 

 

He didn’t have long to wait when James came charging into the hallway firing off a curse immediately. Voldemort deflected it easily before shooting off one of his own, narrowing his eyes as James managed to move quick enough to avoid it, despite the small space of the hallway. Red eyes flicked toward the stairs as Lily ran up them. 

 

She fired one spell wordlessly as she reached the top of them, which Voldemort swept aside with a wave of his wand, deflecting a spell that James had fired too in the same motion, but she had disappeared around the corner by the time Voldemort had his wand ready to retaliate. He let her go for the moment, knowing that she would find no escape, that he would have time to deal with her after he was finished down here. 

 

His attention was forced back to James, when the man shot another spell at him, one that Voldemort was forced to physically dodge. “I do not have time to play games,” Voldemort said firing off the killing curse, narrowing his eyes as James dropped to the floor, rolling sideway to avoid it. 

 

“Pity, I’ve always enjoyed playing games,” James said, smirking as he all but jumped back to his feet with youthful agility, and shooting off another spell before Voldemort had time to respond. “Is that all you’ve got?” James asked ducking behind a door frame to protect himself from another spell and give himself a chance to catch his breath for a few second, but a blast just a few inches from his head had him moving once more. 

 

“Now I’m beginning to wonder why people are so afraid of you! I’m right here, and you can’t even hit me,” James taunted, going as far as to actually laugh as he stepped back out, firing a spell of his own. James hastily ducked down to avoid yet spell another sent his way, only to cry out in surprise as the banister exploded in a shower of golden sparks. 

 

Voldemort was growing angry, his patience rapidly running out, as he started firing one spell after another, attempting to hit the man who kept managing to dodge every single one. The hallway was all but destroyed now and James was left with almost nowhere left to hide.  It was as he raised his wand to cast another spell that it happened, James managed to get a lucky hit. 

 

Voldemort had no time to move out of its path, let alone reflect or block the Bombarda curse, and the small explosion hit him with enough force that Voldemort was thrown back a few feet, crashing into the wall by the front door.

 

Voldemort howled in fury at the blow that had been struck, his hand tightening around his wand as he forced himself to lift his head, ignoring the way that it throbbed painfully. James had taken his chance and darted towards the stairs, and was now halfway up them, scrabbling over the rubble in his desperation to follow after his wife.

 

Rage filled Voldemort’s mind, that they would try to defy him so, that this man had dared to inflict harm upon him, and with a single thought in his mind and a determination to finish James Potter, Voldemort raised his wand.

 

“Avada Kedavra,” he said, letting the words roll of his tongue, green light filling the hallway as the spell shot across the room and struck James Potter in the back. The thud of Potter’s body falling forward onto the stairs was almost anti-climactic, but the thrill of victory, of death, was not, and Voldemort cackled gleefully as the sight of the young man sprawled, face-down upon the stairs.

 

Voldemort pulled himself back up; standing, he took the moment to dust off his robes before he made his way up the stairs. He used his wand to shove James’ body out of the way and into what remained of the banister as he walked passed. He paused at the top of the stairs and listened, trying to find some hint of where the mudblood could be hiding. 

 

It was only a few seconds before he heard a noise coming from one of the rooms. Smiling to himself, Voldemort went straight for that room, blasting the door off the hinges before he had even reached it. There was no scream this time though, no reaction and so he entered, looking around. It was a nursery, full of toys, baby books, a sleeping cot, and a rocking chair, but he did not see any sign of the Potter child, or the mudblood. 

 

“Hiding from me is pointless, I will find you. But if you give me the child now, I may be convinced to spare your life,” Voldemort said, turning his back on the room and scanning the hallway; there were three other doors that he could try, but he did not want to waste his time with searching each room of the house.

 

“Homenum Revelio,” he said, with a lazy wave of his wand, waiting as his spell moved through the house around him, searching for other people. It only took a few seconds for it to tell him exactly where Lily Potter had hidden herself, and so, with a smug smile twisting at his lips, he turned back to the nursery once more. 

 

Voldemort shot a blasting spell at the ceiling, and Lily cried out in alarm as she fell from the attic down onto a pile of rubble in the middle of Harry’s nursery. The fall left her momentarily stunned, and she moaned in pain, her body feeling badly bruised and her ankle feeling as though it might be twisted.

 

“Where is your little brat?” Voldemort demanded to know, his wand trained on the witch in front of him. His spell had done more than help him find the mudblood, it had told him that they were the only two in the house. Lily looked up at him in horror, shaking her head. “You will tell me, but it is up to you how much you suffer before then.”

 

“You’re still going to kill me, even if I could tell you what you want to know,” Lily said stubbornly, using Harry’s cot behind her to pull herself to her feet, glancing around, trying to locate her own wand, which had dropped in her fall. There was no sign of it, but she spotted James’ mirror, the one she had used to call Sirius, shattered and broken. 

 

“I am a merciful Lord, and if you tell me what I want to know, I may be convinced to spare your life,” Voldemort said smoothly. 

 

“Go to hell!” Lily snapped. 

 

Voldemort cried out in fury, destroying the set of shelves covered in baby books, teddies and toys with a wave of his hand. Lily flinched at the sight of her son’s things being damaged, but her expression became steeled, even as Voldemort glided towards her. “You will tell me!”

 

“You really have no idea where he is,” Lily said, and the hint of surprise in her voice confused Voldemort, but his focus was in getting Harry’s location from her. He was realising that again this might take his patience. “He is safe from you,” Lily said, her voice almost a sigh as Voldemort reached out and wrapped his long fingers around her throat. 

 

Shouting from outside caught Voldemort’s attention, he tightened his hold around Lily’s neck. “Where is the child!” Voldemort demanded, narrowing his eyes at the woman. 

 

“James!” The devastated shout from downstairs had Lily turning as best she could to look at the door. Her heart lurched painfully; the way that Sirius called her husband’s name all but confirmed what she suspected, that Voldemort had killed James. 

 

“Sirius! Up-” she yelled, only to have her words cut off as the hand around her throat tightened even more, cutting off her airway. 

 

Voldemort was forced to think quickly. He had been so close, only to find out that the boy wasn’t even in this house any more. Knowing that this mudblood most likely knew the location of her son, and was the best option for him to locate the child quickly, he was reluctant to leave without extracting the information from her.  While he may have been able to handle the Potters on his own, if the whole Order showed up, he would be outmatched. 

 

Footsteps in the hall had Voldemort looking toward the door, shooting off a curse before he even saw the person in the doorway. Looking once more at Lily, he glared at her. “You are coming with me,” he said decisively, her eyes widening as Voldemort turned on the spot and apparated them away. The last thing that Voldemort heard before they vanished, was someone calling out Lily’s name. 

 

\------------x

 

Snape walked calmly through the halls of the manor, his face void of all emotions, and his mind just as blank for anyone who tried to read him. It really was the best way to survive any kind of meeting with the Dark Lord when the man was angry, or even mildly irritated about anything.

 

“Severus.” The smooth voice of Lucius Malfoy greeted him as he approached the room where Voldemort was currently waiting. “I was beginning to wonder what was taking you so long. Our Lord summoned you an hour ago,” Lucius said. 

 

“The Dark Lord knows that I can no longer be here the moment he summons me. Such is the price to pay for the position I am currently in,” Snape replied, moving passed the blond man and into the room where Voldemort was waiting for him, ignoring Lucius, who walked in behind him. 

 

“You are late, Severus,” Voldemort said red eyes narrowing at the young Potions Master as the man knelt before him.

 

“I am deeply sorry, My Lord, I excused myself from the task you have given me as soon as I was able. If I had left any sooner it may have roused suspicion in those you have ordered me to get close to,” Snape said, keeping his head bowed; his body seemed relaxed, though he was mentally prepared for any kind of punishment, as he was sure that Voldemort still intended to give him one. 

 

Eyes still narrowed, Voldemort studied Snape, seeming to contemplate if the man’s excuse was acceptable. “I do not like excuses, Severus,” Voldemort said in a low hiss. “Consider yourself lucky; your mission is important enough to me that I will let your insubordination go unpunished this once,” Voldemort said and he rose from the chair he had been sitting in. 

 

“Thank you, My Lord,” Snape said, keeping his head bowed low, as he had not been given permission to stand yet. 

 

“I have another task for you,” Voldemort continued, still looking down at the man knelt before him. “Unless you believe that taking on yet another task would be too much for you to handle,” Voldemort said, smirking when Snape shook his head. 

 

“I will complete any task you give me, My Lord,” Snape said easily, taking the chance to look up at Voldemort. The Dark Lord didn’t say anything else, just nodding his head, clearly satisfied with Snape’s answer. 

 

“Follow,” Voldemort snapped as he turned and headed toward the door that Snape had entered through; Voldemort strode across the room, without even glance in Snape’s direction, assuming the man would come as instructed.

 

Snape stood and followed Voldemort out of the room, making sure to always stay behind the Dark Lord; he had seen people make the mistake of trying to walk next to him as an equal, and had no desire be severely punished for it. And, though he was curious about where Voldemort was leading him, he didn’t dare ask the man. Voldemort appeared, on the outside, to be calm and in control, but having been serving the Dark Lord for a number of years, Snape had learned from observation and personal experience, that the calmness Voldemort portrayed was far from real. 

 

They walked in silence, and Snape was sure they had walked from one end of the manor to the other, until they reached the hidden door. Voldemort opened it with a wave of his wand, revealing the sounds that the door had been keeping silent and making it quite apparent that it led down to the dungeons. The hallway was filled with the screams of a woman, the agonised voice chilling Snape to the bone; his black eyes darted to look at Voldemort, as the Dark Lord stood next to the door clearly waiting for Snape to go down first. 

 

Snape had never truly had the stomach for torturing people, and he would only do so when directly ordered by Voldemort. The screams of the woman downstairs made Snape hesitate, just long enough for it to be noticeable, but he managed to force his feet to move forward heading down into the dimly lit dungeon. 

 

The screams had died down by the time he reached the bottom of the steps. He looked first to Bellatrix, who was standing in front of a cell that Snape was currently refusing to look into. He didn’t want to see who had been this woman’s latest victim. So instead he turned to look at Voldemort as the Dark Lord walked passed him. 

 

“Has she given you any information, Bellatrix?” Voldemort questioned. 

 

“No, My Lord,” Bellatrix said, narrowing her eyes at the crumpled form of the woman in the cell. 

 

“Severus, come here,” Voldemort ordered, his attention fixed on the person in the cell. Taking a deep breath, Snape moved forward until he was standing right before the cell, and only then did he look at the person lying on the floor, and the second he did, he wished that he hadn’t. He couldn’t see her face clearly because of the red hair that was covering most of it, but Snape knew who it was almost immediately. 

 

“...Lily…” he said softly, his fists clenching at his sides as he used all his will power not to rush into the cell, gather her up and get her as far away from here as he possibly could. However, he also knew that if he did that, they wouldn’t be getting very far, he and Lily would both be killed before he even got out of the dungeon. 

 

“Bellatrix has failed to get the information I require. Perhaps you would have better luck, Severus,” Voldemort said, his red eyes fixed on Snape, ignoring the indignant huff that Bellatrix gave at the mention of her failure.

 

“I just need more time, My Lord,” Bellatrix cooed. “We were just about to get to the fun stuff,” she added, her lip curling into a smirk. 

 

“No!” Snape said, a little too quickly, causing Voldemort to chuckle knowingly. “I will find out what you need to know,” he said more calmly, thinking that anything that kept Bellatrix away from Lily was a good thing at this point. 

 

“Sev’rus?” Lily moaned quietly, and one green eye opened enough to peer up at the three of them standing over her. Snape looked down at her, his hand twitched forward slightly, wanting to hold her, but he held himself back, still well aware of the fact that Voldemort was watching him closely. 

 

“You think you can do any better at getting her to talk?” Bellatrix asked with a laugh. “Let’s see then.” 

 

“What information does she have that you require, My Lord?” Snape asked, ignoring Bellatrix for the moment. He could not spare a thought for her ramblings and taunts, not when it was taking all his will power to maintain his calm facade.

 

“The whereabouts of her spawn,” Voldemort answered, still watching Snape closely and smirking when he saw the man’s hand clench into a fist in an attempt to stop himself from reaching forward once again. 

 

“And once you have this information, may I ask what is going to be done with her?” Snape knew he was walking a very thin line at the moment; he had overstepped his bounds once before when he had first told Voldemort of the prophecy, simply by asking the Dark Lord to spare Lily’s life.

 

“You have an unhealthy fascination with this mudblood,” Bellatrix said, looking from Snape to Voldemort. “Please, My Lord, allow me to continue with her, I will get the information you require,” she said.

 

“You’ve had plenty of time with her already, Bellatrix,” Snape hissed, narrowing his eyes at her. “Your methods of getting information could leave her far too damaged to even speak.” 

 

Voldemort chuckled softly as he watched Snape. “Bellatrix, allow Severus to have a turn, I am curious to see what methods he will use to retrieve the information I desire. And Severus, what happens to her will depend greatly on how cooperative she is,” Voldemort said, smirking when Snape gave a simple nod of his head, before stepping forward to open the cell door. 

 

Lily was still laying on the floor, but she had been watching them as they spoke, her gaze was now fixed on Snape as he stepped inside the cell with her. It had been so long since she had seen her once best friend, and while some small part of her was happy he hadn’t been killed yet in this war, she couldn’t keep her own fear at bay as she wondered just what Snape was going to do to her. 

 

“Hush,” Severus said softly in little more than a whisper, crouching down next to Lily. He was painfully aware of both Bellatrix and Voldemort behind him, but he could not bring himself to be unkind to Lily now, not when she looked so frightened of him. “I have no desire to hurt you,” he promised, “but you must give me something.”

 

“No,” Lily said stubbornly, her voice quiet yet full of determination that Severus knew all too well. It was so bitter-sweet; it warmed his heart to know that this truly was the Lily he had always loved, but it broke it to know that her refusal to speak would inevitably lead to her suffering.

 

“Come, Bellatrix,” Voldemort said, and Severus turned to look at him over his shoulder. “I believe that Severus would like some time alone with the mudblood; let us leave him to his perversions,” he taunted, smirking at the strained expression on Snape’s face.

 

Bellatrix didn’t look too happy about having her fun cut short, and now being told that she had to leave. But if there was one thing Bellatrix would never do, it was disobey an order from her Lord, so with one last glare towards Snape, Bellatrix turned and to follow Voldemort out of the dungeon. 

 

Snape didn’t relax, even after being given the illusion that they were alone and not being watched any more, he knew that Voldemort always had a way of keeping an eye on people. Keeping this in mind, Snape looked back to Lily, who was still looking at him with a hint of fear in her eyes, but also silently daring him to try and get her to speak. 

 

“Lily,” Snape sighed, reaching out to brush some of the hair out of her face, but she pulled away from him before he even had a chance to touch her, clenching his hand into a fist he pulled his hand away from her. “You have to give me something,” he told her pleadingly. 

 

Lily gave a small derisive laugh, causing her to break into a small coughing fit that obviously caused her pain, though she brushed off Snape’s concern. “Never,” she said, once she had herself back under control. “Even if I could, I would never help you find, Harry.”

 

Snape stared at her for a moment, processing her words. “You expect me to believe you don’t know where he is?” he asked skeptically. Lily moaned in pain as he helped her to sit up, and shuffle back to lean against one of the cell walls. “Just tell me what you know, Lily, please. I will protect you.”

 

“You know you can’t promise that,” Lily told him, forcing a sad, indulgent smile as he sat down close to her. It was taking all she had to keep herself conscious despite the pain in her body.

 

Snape sighed; he knew that she was right. He couldn’t guarantee her safety, not given how unpredictable and volatile Voldemort could be, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do everything he could. However, his hands were tied if Lily wouldn’t tell him anything. 

 

“You’re right, I can’t promise that,” Snape said, closing his eyes. “I can’t protect you from the pain and torture they will put you through.” Opening his eyes to look into her bright green ones. “I can keep you alive though,” Snape said, hoping that the promise of being kept alive would be enough. 

 

“You really don’t understand, do you, Severus?” Lily asked rhetorically. “My life doesn’t matter. When Voldemort showed up, if Harry had been there, I would have gladly given my own life for him to live, just as James gave his life for me,” she told him, taking a moment to push down the wave of grief that washed over her at the loss of her husband. “Death doesn’t frighten me as much as the thought of losing my son does,” Lily explained. 

 

“They will never let you leave here if you don’t tell us something,” Snape pointed out. “Just tell me where he is. It’s the only chance you will have to see him again,” he tried to reason, his voice full of desperation. 

 

“I can’t tell you what I don’t know, Severus!” Lily told him firmly, becoming angry now, wincing as the tension in her body hurt her more. “I would give almost anything to see my son again, but I would rather die than lose him.”

 

“Sounds as though you have already lost him,” Snape pointed out harshly, pushing himself to his feet and glaring down at her, “with all these claims that you don’t know where he is.” 

 

Lily sighed wearily.  “I have,” she admitted, a devastated expression on her face. “Someone stole my son away from me months ago. But I still have hope that he is alive and safe somewhere. I have to hold onto the hope that whoever took him has kept him safe.” Lily closed her eyes as she was fighting to stay awake even as every movement sent a small wave of pain through her, and her heart ached heavily with the loss of her family. 

 

“Rest now,” Snape said, his expression softening once more. He did not want to see her suffer anymore. There was nothing he could say to ease her losses, but he hoped that rest might at least ease her physical pain.

 

“Please, Severus, please don’t let them find Harry,” Lily said faintly, and Snape felt his chest tighten with Lily’s request. 

 

“I will return later,” was his only reply before he turned and left the cell, hating the sound of the door as it closed and locked his Lily in once again. 

 

There had once been a time when Snape would have done anything Lily asked of him, he would have promised her anything in the world so long as she remained by his side. And now he had that chance; the chance to get his best friend back, to prove to her that he was better than James Potter. All he had to do was keep Voldemort from finding baby Harry; not an easy task, but also not an impossible one. However, he couldn’t bring himself to promise her that. 

 

Promising to keep her safe, to keep her alive that was something he could, and would, do easily and willingly. But going so far as to keep Potter’s spawn safe and away from Voldemort... Snape had built up to much hatred for that man over the years, that that was not a promise he could easily make; despite the fact that he knew the boy was Lily’s child as well, he couldn’t promise to keep him safe from Voldemort. 

 

Letting out a small growl of annoyance, Snape left the dungeon and went back upstairs to the manor. He knew Lily, she was stubborn and would not talk, but she had hopefully given him enough information that would satisfy Voldemort for the moment. 

 

\----------x

 

Voldemort had been displeased about the lack of information that Snape had managed to retrieve from Lily Potter. The fact that the mudblood apparently really didn’t know where her own child was had angered the Dark Lord even more, and that is what had prompted him to give out the order that all Death Eaters were to start looking for information about Harry Potter’s whereabouts; any information was to be reported to Voldemort immediately. 

 

While the lower ranks were curious about the order, they didn’t dare question them. However, there were some in the inner circle that were unhappy about having to waste their time looking for the missing Potter child. Lucius Malfoy was one of these people; though he was keeping his mouth shut about his irritation because he knew that their Lord had a good reason to want the boy found. Even with this knowledge though, some of the others in the inner circle were more vocal about their anger. 

 

Lucius turned his attention toward his current companion, Corvus Nott, as the man made a noise of frustration. The two of them were sat in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor, looking over parchment detailing what little they knew regarding the Potter boy.

 

“This is nothing more than a waste of time!” Corvus growled. “Why can’t we just leave the child where he is? He is gone, no threat to our Lord at all,” Nott complained, looking at Lucius when he noticed the blond man staring at him. “Surely you must agree with me, Malfoy.”

 

“First of all, there is nothing which I ‘must’ do,” Lucius said, narrowing his eyes at Corvus. “Secondly, there is a reason why our Lord wishes to find the boy. If we simply leave him wherever he is now, he could come back when he is older and that is something that we simply can not allow; unless you have already forgotten about the Prophecy?”  

 

“I have not forgotten about anything, I simply find it difficult to believe that a mere babe could kill our Lord,” Corvus stated as he narrowed his eyes. “Besides that, I could be spending this time looking for my own son, not the spawn of some mud-blood,” he spat viciously.

 

Lucius sighed, pinching the brim of his nose as he closed his eyes. “I understand your irritation better than most others,” the blond man said, forcing himself to look at Corvus, determined to make himself heard. “However, our Lord has ordered the boy to be found, therefore we must find him,” Lucius insisted. 

 

“Give me one good reason why?” Corvus said petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest. 

 

“Our Lord’s order should be reason enough. However, if the threat of punishment is not enough for you, and I can only assume that you have not put much thought into this whole situation,” Lucius said locking eyes with the man before him, who was now looking a little confused. “Has it truly escaped your notice the way in which the Potter boy has gone missing?”

 

Corvus still looked confused, even as he narrowed his eyes at Lucius in annoyance. He rarely appreciated Lucius’ arrogance and superiority complex, even when it wasn’t being rubbed in his face. Lucius smirked, when it became apparent that Corvus really hadn’t managed to put the pieces together.

 

“The Potter boy’s mother apparently does not know who took him, or where he is,” Lucius pointed out. “And if more information could be extracted from her, I am willing to bet that the boy was taken from his cot in the middle of the night, and that the protective wards on their property were undisturbed,” Lucius explained. 

 

“Are you suggesting that whoever took our own children, has also taken the Potter child?” Corvus questioned. He looked skeptical about the very idea of it, but at this point he couldn’t dismiss anything that might lead to him locating his own son and heir. 

 

“There has been very little evidence to prove my theory one way or another,” Lucius admitted, “but it is still a possibility. And another missing child feels too coincidental. I, for one, am not prepared to disregard the possibility, and so I will carry out our Lord’s instruction with the hope that I might bring my own son home. You would be wise to do the same.”

  
Corvus nodded his head in agreement to that. “Then what do you propose?” he asked, hoping that Lucius had more of an idea of where to start than he did. 

 

“Frank and Alice Longbottom,” Lucius stated, lounging back in his chair as he spoke the thought he had been mulling over. “There are rumours in the Ministry that their son is missing,” he explained when Corvus again looked confused, “and I have been unable to locate anyone who will admit to having seen either of them in recent months.”

 

“You believe they are in hiding? That they might know something?” Corvus asked him, looking interested, but unsure. “Aren’t the Longbottoms friends with the Potters? If they knew something, then surely they would have already used that the find their sons.”

 

“We cannot know what they might know until we ask for ourselves,” Lucius told him firmly. “Besides, as you pointed out, they are friends with Mrs. Potter, so I am sure that they can be leveraged against each other,” he added with a devious smirk.

 

“So what great suggestions do you have for locating the Longbottoms?” Corvus asked imperiously. “I am sure Dumbledore’s group of vigilantes will have hidden them well, if they truly are in hiding. Afterall, it took our Lord ten months to locate the Potters.”  

 

“I believe we can retrieve the information we need from our guest,” Lucius said looking thoughtful. 

 

Corvus gave a huff of disbelief. “As though Severus would ever allow you anywhere near her. You’ve seen the way he fawns over that mudblood,” he pointed out with a sneer, doing nothing to hide his blatant disgust.

 

“Me, probably not,” Lucius conceded, “but there are others that Mrs. Potter might be more willing to converse with.” A smirk slowly spread across Lucius’ face, as he stood from his seat. “I shall return,” he said and before Corvus could question or even protest to being left alone to finish the work there, Lucius was already out the door. 

 

The halls of the manor were thankfully empty. All the other Death Eaters, who would usually be around during this time, were also busy trying to find information about the missing Potter boy, and so Lucius wasn’t stopped by anyone as he made his way upstairs. He was heading toward the room that he had largely avoided since his son had been taken, but he knew that that was where he was most likely to find his wife. 

 

Pausing in front of the nursery door, Lucius closed his eyes for a moment and pushed down the swell of emotion that threatened to show, before opening the door. Just as he had predicted, Narcissa was in fact sitting in the room; the rocking chair had been moved closer to the empty cot where their only child had been sleeping just over four months ago. 

 

“Narcissa,” he said softly, as he closed the door to ensure they remained undisturbed. His wife turned slowly and blinked at him in surprise, and he could see Draco’s blanket in her lap. He took her hand in his own as he crouched down next to her, giving her a supportive smile.

 

“Lucius,” Narcissa greeted quietly, her eyes full of perpetual sadness. “You have news?” she asked hopefully, as she often did, and it nearly broke Lucius’ heart to have to shake his head.

 

“Our Lord has asked us to locate the Potter boy,” he told her, not wanting to give her too much time to dwell. “And to do so, I think we may need to locate the Aurors, Frank and Alice Longbottom, whose son is also rumoured to be missing.”

 

“I have no contact with either of them, or any of the Longbottom family,” Narcissa told him, looking rather confused. 

 

“I know of one person who may know where to find them; however, the situation is delicate,” Lucius said cautiously. “She is our only source of information at the moment, and because of this, the only person allowed near her is Severus,” Lucius said. 

 

“Lily Potter,” Narcissa said, proving that she knew more of what was going on than Lucius originally thought. Narcissa let out a small sigh, closing her eyes. “What is it you need me to do, Lucius?” she asked, opening her eyes to look at her husband.

 

“Just talk to her, find out what she knows,” Lucius requested, thinking that he wasn’t really expecting much.

 

“Why me?” Narcissa asked, narrowing her eyes at her husband. She knew him well enough, after their many years together, to know that he would have his reasons, even if he wasn’t sharing them.

 

“Because you are a mother too,” Lucius explained, his smile not reaching his eyes. It was still so painful to think of Draco and that their son was gone. Lucius was holding onto hope that they might yet find his son and heir, but he didn’t dare get his wife’s hopes up.

 

“You mean, I am a mother who has had a child stolen away,” Narcissa amended, her eyes narrowing at Lucius, demanding he be honest with her at least. When Lucius remained silent, Narcissa considered refusing his request, but if she did that then it would be harder to find out what Lucius wasn’t telling her. “Very well, I will speak to her,” she finally agreed.

 

“Anything she could tell you...” Lucius said, but his wife didn’t want to hear it. 

 

“Enough. I have agreed to help, now I wish to be left alone,” Narcissa said, turning her attention away from Lucius, ignoring him completely as he took his leave. 

 

Narcissa always knew that in husband’s line of work secrets were to be expected, and they had never bothered her overly much; right now though, she was beginning to loathe the numerous secrets that surrounded her life. She had even blamed Lucius for Draco’s disappearance, thinking one of his rivals behind it, but now… If it was true that the Longbottom and Potter children had suffered the same fate, then there was a glimmer of hope. 

 

\------------x

 

When Lily next awoke it was to find herself alone in her cell, but that meant very little when the bars in front of her held her prisoner. She was still leaning against the wall she had been propped up against and her whole body ached so badly that even if the bars hadn’t been there, she wasn’t sure if she would have been able to make a break for it. Part of her wanted to return to unconsciousness, to not think of Harry or James; the grief she felt was worse that what Bellatrix had done to her body, but she felt she owed it to her husband to feel the pain of his loss, just as she always felt the pain of Harry’s absence.

 

In the lonely dungeon, there was nothing to distract her from her thoughts though, and soon her cheeks became tear stained. It felt impossible that less than a year ago they had been a happy little family, that she lived with her handsome husband who had stolen her heart, and their beautiful baby boy; she had fallen so far.

 

She had no idea how long it was before the sound of a door opening caught her attention. Lily froze, listening carefully as shoes tapped against the stairs, indicating someone’s approach. It did not sound like Severus, nor any man for that matter, and so she braced herself, expecting Bellatrix’s face to appear in front of the bars. 

 

However, she was surprised to see another of the Black sisters; though the blonde woman now went by Malfoy, Lily well knew. The wedding of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black had been big news, even within the walls of Hogwarts.

 

“Malfoy,” Lily tried to snarl, though her voice cracked in her dry throat, and came out far more feeble than she had intended. “I thought my suffering was being left to Severus,” she commented when Narcissa didn’t speak. 

 

“Officially,” Narcissa told her with a small curt nod, her blue eyes inspecting the red-headed woman in front of her. “The Dark Lord does not know I am here. Nor does Severus,” she added after a moment. 

 

“So this is a social visit. Excuse me for not looking my best; you have caught me at a bad time,” Lily said. 

 

Narcissa narrowed her eyes as she looked at the woman in the cell. “I came to ask you about your son,” Narcissa said and watched Lily closely. 

 

“Of course you did,” Lily sighed. “That's all everyone wants to talk to me about; what do you want to know? Where he is? Who took him? Or do you have some new questions for me?” Lily asked.

 

“I wish to know what happened,” Narcissa, said doing her best to ignore Lily’s attitude, the fact that this woman had been tortured and locked up, but still had this much fight in her, Narcissa could feel a small amount of respect for Lily. 

 

Lily gave a wry laugh. “You know, Dumbledore thought… still thinks, I imagine… that it was you and yours who had taken him,” she said, pausing a moment to look Narcissa over. “But it truly wasn’t, that much is clear to me now. I am glad that he is out of your reach, and I will never help Voldemort find him.”

 

“I am not asking you to,” Narcissa told her bluntly, causing Lily’s eyes to narrow in suspicion. “I simply want to know what happened, the night your son disappeared,” 

 

“Why?” Lily asked impatiently. “What is it to you?”

 

“Because whoever took your boy, may well have taken mine,” Narcissa admitted, and Lily couldn’t help her gasp of surprise. “It is not just your son at stake here.” 

 

“That was never reported to the Aurors,” Lily said, knowing that if Dumbledore had been aware of the Malfoy boy’s disappearance, that would have changed many of their assumptions. It also made her curious if there were even more children that they had been unaware of.

 

Narcissa shook her head. “No, it was not,” she said with a hint of bitterness. “My husband decided that it would be best to let someone more competent handle the situation.” 

 

“James and Dumbledore didn’t want to trust the Aurors to look for Harry either,” Lily said, surprised to find that she was actually feeling sympathy for the blonde woman in front of her. “There are others that you know of?” she asked.

 

Narcissa hesitated, not sure whether or not to tell her what she knew. There was, however, a good chance that it would help encourage Lily Potter’s openness, if she willingly shared her own knowledge. A mental picture of Draco’s empty cot was enough to make up her mind. 

 

“There have been several others, who have also decided to keep quiet,” Narcissa said reluctantly. “It is not truly my place to reveal who, but Lucius seems convinced that the Longbottoms might have suffered the same fate?”

 

“And you want to find them,” Lily said, a look of understanding crossing her face. She hesitated for a moment, but realised that no one out there was truly looking for who had taken the children, not with the Order looking the wrong way. And she wouldn’t wish the loss of a child on anyone and it was possible that Alice might really be their only hope.  “I don’t know much, but I might be able to point you in the right direction,” Lily told her with a sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this story is now ready to start moving forward! We now know where Dumbledore, and Voldemort both stand, and this is the last we will see of them for a while as we move on to Harry and the others!


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: We know that there are probably going to be questions about why the kids are acting so young, if Harry is supposed to be 14, why is he acting like a child? The main reason for this, is because they are being raised by Fae, who age a lot slower than wizards. To the Fae, being 14, is the equivalent of being about 8, or even younger than that. Harry, along with all the other children in this city, have been very sheltered, and raised the same way any Fae child would be raised. Harry and the others have not yet been given a reason to 'grow up'.
> 
>  
> 
> A huge thank you to Emily, who has been a wonderful help in beta reading this story for us!

_March 1995_

The city was dark, well past the time for everyone to be in bed. The only ones still awake were the handful of guards who patrolled the city, not that they were truly needed, in fact the only reason they were there at all was because of the additions to the city over the past years. As the guards made their rounds, a small figure slowly crept along the side of the building, staying hidden in the shadows until the guards had passed.

The fourteen year old boy grinned once the danger had passed. He made sure the hood of his dark, flowing cloak was up properly as he quickly and quietly darted out from his hiding spot, running down the street before the guards could come back and make him return to his room. Staying off the main streets as often as he could, it took nearly twenty minutes for the boy to reach his destination, but when he arrived, he wasted no time hurrying up to the door and knocking. Shifting nervously from one foot to the other, the small boy looked around, keeping an eye out for any guards that might be coming his way.

"Come on, open up," he said, knocking on the door again. He was about to knock a third time when the door opened and he grinned up at the person who had opened the door. "Alais!" he said happily throwing his arms around the startled Council member.

"Harry?" Alais said as she pushed back his hood and blinked down at the small teenager before letting out a long sigh. "What are you doing here? It's past curfew," she said, but pulled the boy into the house anyway. "And look at you! It's only March, it's freezing out and you're running the streets in not much more than your night gown!"

"But I wanted to see you! And I have a cloak too," Harry said looking up at Alais with large green eyes. "I wanted to show you something!"

"And this 'something' couldn't have waited until tomorrow?" Alais asked, leading Harry further into the house.

Harry shook his head as Alais made him sit down in a chair, while she conjured a blanket and something hot for him to drink. He took the steaming cup, giving Alais a thankful smile as he sipped at it. "I had to see you tonight," Harry insisted after he had taken a few sips, and Alais seemed satisfied that he was warming up now.

"Alright, Harry," Alais smiled fondly at the boy that truly was a lot smaller than anyone else his age. Alais cared for all the children that had been brought to the city but, out of all of them, she was not ashamed to admit that Harry was her favorite. "What was so important that you had to run here, at two in the morning, in the middle of March," Alais asked and watched the still smiling Harry as he set his steaming cup aside, removed the blanket from around his shoulders and dug around in the pocket inside of his cloak before he pulled out a small stone and held it out to her.

Alais picked up the stone that Harry was handing to her. Looking it over, she could see that it was indeed a crystal, and though the feeling was faint, she could also feel that the stone had been infused with magic. "Harry, did you make this?" she asked, looking at the small boy, who nodded happily.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, taking it back from her for a moment. The next second, the stone lit up, filling the room with light as the stone floated nearly an inch above Harry's hand.

"Harry-"

"Wait, there's more," Harry interrupted her, clearly excited about what he was going to do next. Alais nodded and watched the stone patiently as Harry focused on it, pouring more of his magic into it.

"Remember, don't force it, Harry," Alais reminded him gently.

Harry let out a small breath and nodded, closing his eyes and stopped trying to force the magic to do what he wanted. Opening his eyes again, he focused on the stone once more, gently feeding his magic in as he had been taught, and in the next moment the room seemed to be filled with color, lights reflecting off the crystal as it slowly turned above Harry's hand, changing from one color to another, the light changing along with it.

It was a simple trick, something that a lot of fae children could do if they put their mind to it, but Alais could easily see why this made Harry so happy, and why he had wanted to show her. "Harry, that is wonderful," she praised as the light faded. Reaching out, she pulled the blanket back over Harry's shoulders before wrapping him in a gentle hug.

"I've been practicing, and I finally got it right. I wanted to show it to you," Harry said, leaning into the hug. "I wanted to show you all day, but I didn't see you at all, and I couldn't wait any longer," Harry admitted, a small yawn escaping him now that his excitement had started to fade.

"I can tell. You keep practicing, and you will be able to keep that stone lit all night," Alais said and Harry smiled, snuggling further into the hug. He was happy and content, and could have probably fallen asleep right there if a knock at the door didn't have him sitting up straight.

Alais chuckled. "It seems they've started checking your room more often; it didn't take them long at all to find you missing tonight," Alais said as she stood up, leaving a pouting Harry in his chair to finish his drink as she went to answer the door.

"I take it he's here?" The familiar voice of Itham had Harry jumping from his chair and running to greet the high Council member in much the same manner as he had greeted Alais.

"Itham!" Harry giggled happily as Itham caught him and lifted him up hugging him back.

"Harry, you must stop sneaking out of your room at night. I have told you before, if you want to come seen Alais, I can arrange for a meeting during normal daylight hours when people are actually awake," Itham scolded with fond exasperation.

"But I HAD to see her," Harry said, pulling back from the hug to look at Itham.

"Oh? And why did you have to see her so urgently?" Itham raised an eyebrow at Harry, who lifted his hand and showed him the crystal that he had shown Alais moments before. Itham took the stone and looked it over much the same way that Alais did.

"You made yourself a glow stone?" he asked, handing the stone back to Harry, who wrapped his hand tightly around it.

"I did," Harry nodded, as Itham set him back on his feet.

Neither of the Council members had to ask why the first magical item Harry made was a glow stone; ever since he was a young boy, Harry had had an unexplainable fear of the dark, only made worse by the nightmares he had suffered from. Although both Alais and Itham had believed that Harry had grown out of both of these things, the glow stone was a good indication that even without the nightmares, Harry still didn't like the dark.

Itham put a hand on Harry's head. "We should get you back to bed, before the guards truly notice you missing," Itham said.

"You mean they haven't started looking for him yet?" Alais questioned.

"No, I was up late doing some paperwork, when I saw this little one running down the street, barefoot, in the middle of March," Itham said, looking down at Harry, who shifted nervously, lowering his gaze to the floor.

"I already spoke to him about that," Alais interjected before Itham could scold Harry.

"Yes, and he truly looks sorry for what he did," Itham sighed and looked down at Harry before kneeling so he was on closer eye level with the fourteen year old. Harry kept his eyes fixed on the floor until Itham put a finger under Harry's chin, forcing green eyes to lock with his own. "Harry, I do understand why you felt the need to come here tonight, both Alais and I know what this glowstone truly means for you, but you could have waited for the morning."

"But I-"

Itham put a finger over Harry's mouth stopping the protest. "I know, Harry, but think about what it means for those poor guards. It is their job, their duty to protect you and the others. How do you think they feel whenever they find your bed empty? When they search for you and you are nowhere to be found? It means that they have failed in their job. If they can not stop a fourteen year old from sneaking out, how are they to stop someone else who may try to sneak in and harm you?"

Green eyes glistened with tears. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… I didn't know I was being that much trouble," Harry said, rubbing at his eyes. "I just… I wanted to show Alais, and I wanted to show you too, but you never come see me anymore. You two are always busy; I haven't seen you in a week and I missed you, and I… I just wanted to show you," Harry said hiccuping as the tears started to fall. Itham sighed and pulled Harry into a hug.

"We have missed you too, dear one," Itham said softly. "I know you did not mean to cause any trouble. There is no harm done, and we can consider this a small lesson, to think before you act," Itham said, sighing when he felt Harry hold onto him tighter as the small fourteen year old continued to cry. Itham looked up at Alais, silently pleading for help.

The younger Council member took pity on him, gently pulling Harry away and turning the crying teen to look at her. "Hush now, Harry," she said, drying his eyes even though more tears fell. "You have seen both of us now tonight; there is no need to cry. Come back to the sitting room, you can fall asleep here, then Itham will take you back to your room," Alais compromised.

Harry nodded, taking Alais' hand and allowing himself to be lead back to the sitting room. Alais sat down on the settee, and Harry lay down, with his head on her lap, taking comfort from the gentle fingers that combed through his unruly hair as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Out of all the children, why is this one the trouble maker?" Itham asked as he looked down at the sleeping Harry. Alais smiled and continued stroking Harry's hair.

"It's because we have spoiled him, more so than any of the others," Alais pointed out. "Though I don't think anyone can blame us for how we treated him, considering the circumstances that lead to him arriving in the city so much earlier than we had expected…"

"That is in the past," Itham said, somewhat dismissively. "He survived, and though he may seem small, and physically weaker than most of the others, he has a connection to magic that the other wizard children will never have." Itham looked concerned as he continued watching Harry. "The connection is strong enough that there are times when I wonder if he will actually be able to return to his own world." Itham sighed shaking his head and standing up straighter.

"He can't stay here indefinitely, Itham," Alais said sadly. "That would defy the point of everything we have been working to achieve."

"I think you should be telling yourself that, Alais," Itham said, giving his fellow Council member a knowing look. "We have both become too attached to this boy, and, when the time comes, he is not going want to leave us. We must take the time now to distance ourselves from him, for his own good," Itham said.

"I know that!" Alais snapped, her voice a little louder than she had meant it to be; Harry shifted in his sleep, making a small noise of protest, but thankfully didn't wake up. "I know," Alais said again, more quietly this time, "it's just difficult. He is still so small, so young," Alais said her focus returning to Harry.

"He is nearly an adult by wizard standards. I think we all tend to forget that they do have a shorter lifespan than us, and as a result seem age much faster than Fae children," Itham reminded her, as he came to take a seat next to her. "I think we may have coddled them all too much, Harry particularly, because in just five years they will be returning to their own world. I know how difficult it is, Alais, but we must start to distance ourselves from him now. It will hurt him less in the future," Itham said, taking her free hand between his.

"I still don't know why we can't just tell him and the others what is truly going on," Alais huffed, pulling her hand back and glaring at Itham in annoyance. This was far from the first time that they had had this disagreement, as reflected by Itham's exasperation.

"Because Arnaldo had forbidden us to speak of it to the children," he stated simply. "If they knew where they came from, then they would likely try to run away and return back to their world too soon. And none of them, even the older ones, are ready to face what is out there, they are far too innocent, and naive in a lot of ways."

"Well that is our own doing," Alais pointed out with a frown. "There are so many things that they are ready to know, even if we are not ready to teach them. Maybe the Council would agree to keep them here longer," she suggested, not wanting to let them leave, not wanting to lose them.

"We must stick to the plan," Itham told her with a weary sigh. "Or else all that we have put these families through, all our plans, will have been for nothing," Itham reminded her.

"You mean all of Arnaldo and Tinasia's plans," Alais scoffed, still feeling bitter that she and Itham had been overruled so easily by the rest of the Council, even almost nineteen years later.

"Yes, but it is not just them. Alais, please," Itham beseeched, "I know you have a difficult time following orders, so I am asking you, as your friend, to keep your head low and allow Arnaldo's plan to continue. We will have our own time to act," Itham said, hoping that Alais understood, and perhaps more importantly, was going to agree.

"I will distance myself from Harry," Alais said sadly, taking a moment to look down at the sleeping boy in her arms. "But if he comes to me, I can not turn him away," she insisted and Itham nodded his understanding; it was the best he was going to get at the moment.

\---x

Draco grumbled sleepily as the darkness of the dormitory was broken, and he rolled over in his bed when he heard someone moving about. He was half ready to reprimand whoever had been off wandering, but caught himself when he recognised Itham, the slip of light from the crack in the door catching on the man's face.

The blond pushed himself up on his elbows, and watched as the Elder carefully placed Harry back into his bed on the other side of the room, removing Harry's cloak and draping it over the end of the bed. Pansy, Hannah and Susan remained undisturbed, fast asleep, if Hannah's soft snores were any indication.

"Did he sneak out again?" Draco asked curiously, his quiet tone somehow still full of disapproval. He sat up a little more and brushed sleep from his eyes with the back of his hand, as Itham turned a smile towards him.

"Of course, and he has already been reprimanded," Itham said with fond exasperation, as he finished tucking Harry's blankets tightly around him with a casual wave of his hand before heading over towards Draco. "But what exactly are you doing awake?"

"The light woke me," Draco told him, gesturing towards the partially opened door. "Blaise will have fun telling him off tomorrow," he added, a smile twitching on his lips at the prospect of seeing Harry told off by his mate… again; every time it happened it made Draco very glad that Theodore was so easy going.

"You should not look so pleased at that prospect," Itham chastised, barely managing to hide his amusement as he pressed a hand to Draco's shoulder, making the fourteen year old lie back down. "And you should definitely be trying to get back to sleep. I doubt Kire would be happy to hear you were awake at such an hour."

"I know," Draco said petulantly as he allowed himself to be tucked in. Kire, his and Theodore's mentor, was a little on the strict side at times, and so he really didn't fancy having to listen to that particular lecture.

"Sleep well," Itham said fondly, as he brushed a hand over Draco's hair as the young blond's eyes drifted shut. For all that he had said to Alais about letting go, about not allowing these children to grow too attached, he found that he wasn't ready to see them leave either. Though he knew it would be best to follow his own advice, if his own plans were to succeed.

Leaning down Itham pressed a kiss to Draco's forehead before standing and doing the same with the other sleeping children in the room.

\---x

The following day, Harry found himself being woken up far too early for his liking. The person was rather insistent as they continued shaking his shoulder. Swatting at the person in annoyance, Harry attempted to roll over and go back to sleep.

"Oh no you don't," the unmistakable voice of Pansy said, right before Harry felt his blankets being ripped away from him. He tried to hold onto them, but the end result of this was Harry falling out of bed, landing heavily on the floor with his blankets now missing.

"Pansy!" Harry whined, looking up at the girl who was now standing over him with his stolen blankets, only to find Draco standing there as well, looking rather amused. Susan and Hannah looked over from where they were getting ready for the day, shaking their heads before going back to ignoring the three of them.

"We let you sleep in longer than we had to, but you have to get up now," Pansy said and Harry flopped down onto the floor.

"But I'm really tired!" Harry continued to whine.

"That is your own fault. If you hadn't snuck out again last night..." Draco said with a knowing smirk and the green-eyed boy looked up at him in surprise.

"How do you know that?" Harry asked with a frown. He had thought he had been discreet when he had snuck out; no one had tried to stop him after all.

"I woke up when Itham brought you back," Draco explained dismissively. "Now, I suggest you get up. Or I could just go and get Blaise, I'm sure he'd be interested to know about your late night adventure," Draco offered teasingly, and was satisfied to see Harry's green eyes widen.

"Has anyone ever told you that you don't play fair?" Harry asked with a pout as he scurried to his feet, and Draco shrugged.

"I believe you have told me this, multiple times, since we were children," Draco said, still smirking as Harry hurried to get himself ready for the day. "And not playing fair has always provided the best results," Draco pointed out and Harry huffed as he pulled off his night gown and threw it at the blond boy.

"You could be a bit nicer," Harry said petulantly, but as he turned away, he found that his clothes for the day had already been laid out for him, including his favourite tunic. Glancing over his shoulder at Draco, who still had that stupid smirk on his face, Harry let out another huff of annoyance. "Thanks," he mumbled and he quickly got dressed as the girls were ready and just waiting on Harry and Draco now.

"Don't forget your bag," Pansy reminded Harry as he headed toward the door. He gave a frustrated sigh as he changed direction to grab the bag that was sitting at the end of his unmade bed.

"And you could make your bed before we leave," Draco added as Harry slung the bag over his own shoulder.

"We're already going to be late. I can make it later," Harry said, hurrying toward the door out of their dormitory when Susan opened it. Draco rolled his eyes and waved his hand toward the messy bed, the blankets righting themselves within seconds.

"I don't know why you put up such a fuss about keeping your space clean, it's not like it takes all that long," Draco pointed out as the five of them left the room together, heading down the hallway toward the dining hall.

"Maybe I like leaving my bed a mess. Maybe I find it more comfy to sleep in a pile of blankets," Harry argued back, smiling when Draco rolled his eyes again.

"You are impossible!" Draco said, exasperated, and Harry laughed.

"Are you two fighting this early in the morning?" a kind voice said from behind them. The five younger teens turned and Harry smiled when he saw Angelina standing there.

"Morning, Angelina!" he greeted warmly. "No, we're not fighting, we're just having a disagreement," Harry assured her happily.

"A loud disagreement," Draco clarified.

"Last I checked, that is what arguing is," Pansy added in helpfully, earning a mild glare from Harry.

Angelina chuckled, shaking her head at them. "Whatever you want to call it, I think you should do less of it, or maybe do it a little quieter. The Elders are here today, and I don't think it would be wise for you to be fighting in front of them," Angelina said, patting both Harry and Draco on the head, the blond batting her hand away and causing Harry to laugh. "I have to go meet up with Cedric, I will see you all at lunch today," she told them and with that, Angelina was off, hurrying down the hallway, her knee length skirt swishing elegantly as she walked, in a way that magically imbued clothing could.

"I didn't know the Elders were coming here today," Susan said, looking worriedly at her roommates. The senior Council Members didn't show up often, but when they did, the mentors tended to demand perfect behaviour from all of the young witches and wizards, something that seemed to prove difficult for some.

"They shouldn't be here today," Draco said pensively, "this is off schedule for them. It's only mid-March, they're not scheduled to be here for another two weeks."

"Itham didn't say anything about it last night…" Harry added, looking thoughtful as they started moving again, Susan and Hannah leading the way.

"Maybe they're here BECAUSE of last night?" Pansy offered.

"But I've snuck out multiple times before, why would they only be coming here about that now?" Harry asked as they reached the entrance to the dining room.

"You snuck out again?" Blaise asked incredulously, having overheard their conversation as he and Theo approached from the other hallway, which led to their dormitory.

"Erm… maybe," Harry said, turning around and smiling innocently up at his mate's scowling face. Harry couldn't help but take in his mate's appearance, and how handsome his mate looked, in his delicately detailed, hooded waistcoat, and with his arms crossed over his chest.

"He did," Draco added helpfully, earning a glare from Harry.

"If you knew, why didn't you stop him?" Theodore asked, coming to stand next to Blaise. Draco couldn't keep the smile from his face when he saw his own mate, taking a few steps forward and sighing happily when Theodore wrapped his arms around Draco's smaller form.

"I didn't see him sneak out, I only woke up when Itham brought him back," Draco said, turning his attention toward Blaise and Harry, content to watch from where he was, wrapped up in his mate's arms.

"Harry..." Blaise said, not looking to happy about the fact that his small mate has managed to sneak out again, "we've talked about this; you sneaking out is dangerous," Blaise said.

"I know… Itham lectured me about it last night," Harry said, looking down as he remembered what the high Council member had told him. "But I had to go out last night!" Harry exclaimed, still intent on arguing his point. Digging around in his pocket, he pulled out the crystal and showed it to Blaise. "I had to show Alais this."

Blaise picked up the stone, looking it over. He could feel traces of Harry's magic in it but a frown formed on his face when he couldn't tell what the stone actually did. "You made a magic stone," Blaise said, sounding impressed as he handed it back to Harry, who nodded happily.

"I did! I made a glow stone!" Harry couldn't hold in his excitement as the look of annoyance and anger faded from Blaise's face, and was replaced with a look of love and pride.

"Wait, hold it," Pansy said, cutting into the conversation and taking the stone to get a look at it herself. "You made this?" she asked, looking at Harry in awe. "We've only just started learning about the basics, we're not even going to get into how to make a magic stone for another year, maybe two. Angelina and Cedric haven't even managed to make their own magic stones yet and they're top of their year. How did you manage to make one?" Pansy asked in pure surprise.

"Because my Harry is special," Blaise said proudly and pulled Harry into a tight hug, kissing the top of Harry's head, smiling when he heard the smaller boy giggle.

"Alright, alright, break it up!" the stern voice of Kire said, as he strode towards them from out of the dining hall, with a clap of his hands. The mentor purposefully broke up the group, making sure to separate Harry from Blaise, and Draco from Theodore. "You know the rules about close contact," he scolded the teens.

"It's a stupid rule, he's my mate," Draco said motioning to Theodore. "Why can't I be close to him?"

"That is a good question, and something that I will be covering in today's lessons," Kire said with an exasperated huff. "Now I suggest you all go and eat. There is a busy day ahead of you, and we wouldn't want any of you to be late for your lessons," Kire said, shooing them along into the dining hall. He kept a close eye as they headed over to the table where Neville, Ron and Terry were already sitting together, making sure that the mates didn't get any closer to each other, except for holding hands.

Harry agreed with Draco; he thought it was a stupid rule, as he always felt best when he was close to Blaise, and Harry could only assume that Draco felt the same when it came to being close to Theodore; though many of the mates, such as Pansy and Neville did seem to be content to abide by the instruction. They had all grown up knowing the rules, but it struck Harry as odd that no one had even gone into any detail about why the rules were in place and he was interested to know more.

"Draco, if Kire does go over that stupid rule with you during this morning's mentor session, will you fill me in later?" Harry asked hopefully as the two of them took seats next to each other, their mate's on their other sides.

"You can just wait for your own lessons with Firo," Draco said, smiling when Harry pouted at him. "You have a lesson with him just after breakfast, and I'm sure he'll tell you if you ask," he pointed out, but Harry continued to look at him imploringly. "But yes, if you don't know by the end of the day, and I do, I will tell you," Draco promised with an indulgent sigh.

"What will Firo probably tell Harry?" Neville asked curiously, as Pansy took a seat between him and Theo.

"Why we aren't allowed to do more than hold hands with our mates," Pansy told him before either Draco or Harry had a chance to answer and she took Neville's hand in her own. "Kire got his knickers in a twist because Blaise, Harry, Theo and Draco were all getting too snuggly," she added with a teasing grin as they all started helping themselves to the fruit heavy breakfast in front of them.

"Doesn't Kire always have his knickers in a twist?" Ron asked, glancing over to where most of the mentors were sat together. This caused the others around the table laugh and chuckle at Kire's expense; it was well known that Draco and Theodore had one of the strictest mentors.

"As much as I agree with Ron, at least Kire is offering to explain to Draco," Hannah pointed out calmly. "That's more than Nalia has ever done for me or Terry." And Terry nodded his head in agreement.

"Syndra implied that it was to protect us, when I asked," Pansy told them with a shrug, and the others turned to look at her in surprise. "She didn't want to say more than that, though that was a few years back that I asked. I could try again if you guys wanted me to," she offered.

"Why don't we see what Kire has to tell Draco this morning, before we start encouraging Pansy to berate her mentor," Theodore suggested, the corner of his mouth quirking into smile as he added the cubes of melon from his bowl to Draco's, knowing that it was his mate's favourite.

"I would not berate Syndra!" Pansy exclaimed with an outraged huff; Draco and Harry both snorted in disbelief earning a pointed glare from Pansy. "I wouldn't," she reiterated defensively.

"Don't listen to them," Neville said, smiling sweetly as he give his mate's hand a squeeze. "I know you wouldn't." And Pansy gave a satisfied huff, that only made Neville smile more broadly.

"They're nauseatingly cute, aren't they?" Harry said in a loud whisper as he leaned closer to Blaise, grinning up at his mate joyfully. Blaise smiled at him indulgently, pressing a kiss to Harry's temple, not caring what the mentors had to say about it.

"Like you are one to talk," Draco pointed out. "You and Blaise would be all over each other if it wasn't for our ever watchful mentors."

"I don't really care what the mentors want to say to us, they can't stop us forever," Blaise said grinning before he kissed Harry's forehead again.

"Could you maybe NOT do that at the table?" Ron asked, narrowing his eyes at Blaise.

"Leave them alone, Ron," Susan said. "I think it's sweet." She smiled and reached to take his hand. Ron, however, moved his hand away to help himself to seconds, seeming not to notice Susan reaching for him. The movement didn't go unnoticed by Harry though; he had seen Ron do similar things before, and it had been often enough that Harry was beginning to think that it might not be an accident.

"Leave it alone, Harry," Blaise whispered to him when he saw where his mate was looking.

"But..." Harry frowned, looking back at Blaise.

"The mentors will handle their relationship," Blaise said as he ran his fingers through Harry's hair soothingly. "Besides, we have our own stuff to worry about, such as the fact that we have five minutes left to eat before we have to meet Firo." Blaise chuckled when Harry's eyes widened, before the smaller boy started eating what was left on his plate. Firo was usually fairly easy going, but one thing he truly did not like was for them to show up late to their lessons.

"We're finished," Theodore said as he stood up from his seat, pulling Draco to his feet as well. "We'll see you all later. Harry, I'd like a closer look at your glow stone later, if that's okay?" Theodore asked.

"Of course!" Harry grinned happily. "I can even show you all how I did it, if you want?" Harry suggested, looking from Theodore and Draco toward Pansy and Neville, all of whom nodded eagerly.

"Wonderful. I always love watching Harry show off," Draco said teasingly, with a dramatic roll of his eyes.

"You say that as if you, yourself, are not a show off," Harry giggled in response, as he and Blaise got up from the table too, having finished their own breakfast.

"Oh, I am a show off," Draco declared unrepentantly, "I love showing off, especially to Theodore." Draco glanced at his mate, who chuckled and wrapped his arms around Draco's waist.

"Kire is headed this way," Neville said helpfully. Draco looked toward his and Theodore's mentor and sighed pulling away from Theodore before Kire could scold them again.

"Kill joy," Draco huffed, but he snapped his mouth shut and forced a polite smile as Kire reached them. "We're ready to go when you are," he told their mentor.

"Suck up," Harry whispered, bursting out laughing when Blaise took him by the hand and started to lead him away, over to where Firo was waiting for them. "Take notes, Draco," he called back, grinning at him over his shoulder.

"Ignore him," Theodore instructed firmly, before Draco could say anything back, and the two of them followed after Kire, who was already making his way out of the Dining Hall. "Do you really think he will explain the reason for the rules about mates?"

"I hope so," Draco told him, linking their hands together. "I love being close to you, and I wish I could spend time alone with you. As much as I love Harry and the girls, sometimes I wish it was just you and me."

"I would like that too," Theodore said, rubbing his thumb over Draco's hand as they walked. Draco smiled up at his mate at the affectionate gesture; it was all they could really get away with most of the time. But that didn't stop them from trying to get away with more whenever there wasn't someone watching them.

Kire watched the pair of them closely as they entered his room; Kire's office was surprisingly comfortable, done up in neutral tones with three comfortable chairs dominating the middle of the room. Draco and Theodore took their usual seats across from their mentor, who had already pulled out and opened his notes.

"Today we will be discussing the more intimate aspects of your mateship," Kire told them without any preamble. "The other mentors and I have become aware that you and your yearmates have become frustrated with the rules put in place for your protection."

"How are they protecting us?" Draco asked incredulously, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning at their mentor. "What exactly do you think is going to happen if Theo and I spend time alone, or hug too often?"

"There are multiple things that could happen," Kire said firmly; however, both Draco and Theodore continued to look frustrated and confused. "But what the other mentors and I are most concerned about, are the consequences of you becoming intimate with each other," Kire told them.

"And we're asking what kind of consequences," Draco said irritably. "You let me be alone with Pansy or Harry; what's so different about Theo?"

"Theodore is your mate, that is the difference," Kire explained, seeming rather uncomfortable with the whole conversation. "There are… behaviours that you will be inclined to indulge in together. These activities would be… inappropriate at your age."

"You are still not making much sense," Theodore said, still frustrated, but being more patient than Draco was being at the moment. "If you are so concerned about us 'indulging in these activities', then why is it okay for Draco to be alone with Harry, or the other girls?" Theodore asked, repeating the question Draco had brought up before.

"Because there is no danger, if they were to experiment with each other, that anything would come of that. Harry and Draco, though male on the outside, do not have the same functions as other males, such as yourself and Blaise."

"That's why we share a room with and dress more like the girls?" Draco asked, his curiosity only growing more now that they were finally getting some answers. His and Harry's clothes weren't very different from their mates', but they tended to be in paler colours, and flow more, the shapes less tightly fitted to their bodies.

Kire nodded in confirmation. "Like the girls, you and Harry are both able to, with help from your mates, become pregnant and have children of your own. But unlike Theodore or any of his dorm-mates, you are unable to get anyone else pregnant. Do you understand?" he asked.

"Sort of. Not really," Draco admitted uncertainty. "What do you mean by pregnant? And is having children a bad thing? Is that what you meant by consequence?"

Kire sighed wearily. "Pregnant is when you have a new baby growing inside you," he explained, and Draco's face scrunched up in something somewhere between shock and disgust. "And yes, that is the main consequence I was referring to. Would you like to have a small person grow inside of you right now?" he asked.

Draco shook his head; that was definitely not something that he wanted to happen to him. "But I am still confused about how that happens," he added, wanting to make sure it didn't accidentally happen to him and Theo. His mate, however, apparently had a bit more of an idea, given the way his cheeks were flushing red.

"That is what I meant by the more intimate aspects of your relationship," Kire explained vaguely, and Draco frowned, not liking being left in the dark.

"I think Kire is talking about touching… each other," Theodore offered and Kire nodded again, as Draco turned to look at him with an even more confused expression.

"But we touch all the time," Draco pointed out. "The rules say we are allowed to hold hands and such," he added, wanting to make it clear that they hadn't done anything wrong.

"Erm… touching in other places," Theodore added, gesturing vaguely to his groin, looking even more flustered. "And… erm… being naked together."

"You… you want to touch me... there?" Draco asked curiously, his voice a scandalised whisper. Theodore nodded, glancing nervously towards Kire, who was watching the pair of them closely, making occasionally notes in the book on his lap.

"I will remind you that such touching is against the rules, given your age," Kire added sternly. "As is being alone together, naked or not."

"We know," Theodore said, his and Draco's attention still on each other, both of them mulling over the possibilities. "I love you, Draco, you know that," taking Draco's hand in his own as he spoke, "so of course I think about being closer to you. Do you not?"

"I do," Draco admitted, unsure about saying this in front of Kire even though the Fae had been with them since they were just babies. "I like it when you are close, or you wrap your arms around me and all that. But I hadn't really thought about being naked together. And I don't really want some… little person growing inside me," he added, a blush warming his cheeks.

Kire coughed awkwardly, drawing their attention. "I think I might need to explain sexual intercourse to you," he said, not looking particularly pleased about this, but resigned to it. "Have either of you ever heard the term sex?"

\---x

By the time that lunch time rolled around and Kire let them leave, Theodore had to all but drag a horrified Draco from the man's office. They had had sex explained to them in great detail, complete with diagrams, and Draco was having a hard time coming to terms with some of what they had been told.

"It's okay, Draco," Theodore said quietly, "we won't do anything until you are ready."

"You think I will ever be ready to let you put… that... there?" Draco asked incredulously, looking up at his mate with wide and slightly panicked eyes.

"Well it isn't as though the mentors would let us be alone long enough to do anything anyway," Theodore pointed out. "Their rules are still in place, after all."

"I still think the rules are stupid and pointless. If they don't want any of us doing… that, just show us those pictures. No one is going to want to be alone with their mate ever again!" Draco said, clearly still traumatised by what he had been told, and shown.

"It wasn't that bad Draco, and clearly you're not all that affected, as you are allowing me to hold your hand," Theodore pointed out with a smirk. "I wonder if Firo agreed to tell Harry and Blaise anything."

"He did not," Harry said with a pout, as he and Blaise approached them. "Apparently I am 'too young for such things'," he added, in a mocking version of Firo's voice.

"Well you do look to be about ten," Draco told him, turning to grin tauntingly at his friend, trying to hide the fact that he had been ranting to Theodore seconds before.

"I do not!" Harry protested, but he failed to keep the serious look on his face for more than a few seconds and was soon grinning again. "I look at least twelve. And anyway, you promised, Draco. You promised you would tell me what Kire told you."

"I am rethinking that promise. I don't know if Blaise would want me to traumatise you," Draco admitted and was unable to stop the shudder that ran through him.

"It couldn't be that bad," Harry pouted. "And you promised! You never break your promises!"

"Harry, keep your voice down, there is no need to gain the attention of everyone eating lunch," Blaise reprimanded, running his hand down Harry's back to try and calm his mate.

"But Draco promised!" Harry continued to argue.

Draco let out a long sigh. "You're never going to leave me alone until I tell you." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Nope!" Harry said, grinning widely, completely unrepentant.

"Fine," Draco said, exasperated, "I will tell you; later, where there is less chance of Firo overhearing us," Draco said. "Or the Elders," he added, gesturing to where they were sat at one of the tables in the Dining Room, talking with some of the mentors of the older children.

"Thank you!" Harry said, not caring about who else was in the room and tackling Draco in a hug in his excitement.

"I am so going to regret this," Draco said but he hugged Harry back.

TBC


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thanks to Emily for beta reading this fic for us!
> 
> I hope everyone is in for a good size chapter! This is the first of our longer chapters so I hope you enjoy!

_ March 1995 _

 

Harry usually enjoyed lessons; he loved spending time with Firo, he loved learning, and it was one of the times he was allowed to sit closer to Blaise than he was normally allowed. Being allowed to snuggle up with his mate was a great comfort to him at times, so long as Firo was there to make sure that nothing else happened. Though Firo still refused to tell Harry what that ‘something else’ actually was; Harry was now sure, however, that Draco would have explained before the evening was through.

 

For the moment though, he found himself face to face with all four of the High Council Elders. Even though the only Elder Harry had ever seen before was in fact Itham, it was easy to tell that the other three were part of the High Council as well, due to the pure white vestments they wore, trimmed in silver, except for the High Elder, who had gold embroidered into his vestment. Itham gave him a supportive smile, but that did nothing to calm Harry’s nerves given the stern looks on the faces of Rosario, Tinasia and Arnaldo.

 

“Do you know why we are meeting with you today?” Tinasia asked sternly, her hands clasped behind her back as she and the others towered over Harry. The small fourteen year old slowly shook his head, looking from one Council Elder to another, before his eyes finally settled on Itham. 

 

“Do not look at Itham,” Arnaldo said and Harry’s attention snapped toward the High Elder. 

 

“Sorry,” Harry said quickly, unsure of what else he could say, but seeing as how all the Elders, other than Itham, seemed unhappy with him, apologising seemed to be the best place to start. 

 

“Do you even know what you are apologising for?” Rosario asked.

 

“Um… for whatever I did wrong?” Harry said, looking at the Council member who had spoken, but he was unable to quite meet her stern gaze. 

 

“And you do not know what you have done wrong?” Rosario questioned, still watching Harry closely. “Nothing you have done recently that you wish to confess to?” she prompted.

 

Harry bit his lip, thinking hard about what he may have done wrong to earn himself a meeting with all the High Council members; he didn’t think that it could actually have been about the sneaking out, like Pansy had implied, and he didn’t want to confess to that and give them even more reason to be cross with him. 

 

“No… I don’t know what I did… but I’m sorry,” Harry said, wringing his hands. He was getting more nervous the longer he sat there; he wanted nothing more than to hide behind Itham, or better yet, to run and find Blaise. 

 

Rosario looked from Harry, toward Arnaldo, when the High Council member stepped forward. “You were seen last night, out of bed, and roaming the streets in the early hours of the morning,” Arnaldo said, looking down at Harry and watching the small boy practically cowering in his seat. “Do you know what you did wrong now?” 

 

Harry nodded his head slowly, feeling rather stunned that he had been caught and was actually in serious trouble because of it now. “I… I snuck out of bed?” he offered, looking at the High Council member. If Harry were honest, he had never really liked Arnaldo; there had always been something about the elder Fae that Harry just didn’t like, and now, dealing directly with him, Harry felt that dislike growing rapidly. 

 

“Yes, you most certainly did,” Tinasia sneered harshly. “And we are now aware that this was not the first time you have done such a thing. Do you have anything to say for yourself? Perhaps an explanation?”

 

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but he caught Itham’s eye and snapped it closed again. He had been about to explain himself, his desire to show Alais the glow stone, but the last thing he wanted to do was get her into trouble. He found himself holding back tears as he shook his head, wondering just how much trouble he really was in.

 

“I’m sorry,” Harry said once more. “I won’t do it again,” he promised. 

 

“I should hope not!” Arnaldo declared. “And to ensure you do not forget, you will have your magic removed for one whole day.”

 

“Arnaldo!” Itham exclaimed, looking shocked. “He is just fourteen years old,” he pointed out, gesturing to Harry, who had now lost his battle against his tears and was staring at them in disbelieving shock.

 

“Please. Don’t!” Harry begged, trying to hold himself together; he could already tell, however, from the serious faces of the Elders, that there would be no getting out of this. He didn’t want to face it alone though. “I want Blaise,” he told them, his voice wavering. “Please, I need him, please.”

 

“No, you will not be…” Tinasia started to say smugly, causing Harry to start crying in earnest, his arms wrapping around himself defensively, but Itham had clearly had enough.

 

“Don’t be so ridiculous, Tinasia,” Itham snapped. “He is fourteen years old, and about to lose his magic for the first time in his life; surely even you would not be cruel enough to deprive him the support of his mate!”

 

“This is a punishment,” Arnaldo pointed out viciously, clearly not remotely moved by Harry’s emotional state. 

 

“And surely the loss of his magic is punishment enough,” Itham insisted, moving forward and wrapping an arm around Harry’s shoulder and letting the young boy cry into his chest. “Will you go and fetch Blaise please, Rosario. I expect you will find him just outside if I am not mistaken,” he added with a small smile, when Harry’s tear-covered face looked up at him.

 

“It is not your place, Itham,” Arnaldo said with annoyance, as Rosario hesitated to do as Itahm asked. “This is not your decision.”

 

“No, I really must put my foot down,” Itham said firmly. “This is a harsh punishment, which may or may not be deserved, but I will not allow this young man to endure it alone. Rosario, if you would.”

 

Arnaldo and Tinasia looked fuming, but Rosario went to the door regardless. “Ah, Blaise, Itham thought you would be out here,” they heard her say. “Would you please join us for a moment.”

 

Blaise looked concerned as he cautiously stepped into the room. “Harry!” he exclaimed as Harry all but threw himself into Blaise’s arms. “What happened?” he asked, no longer caring about anyone else in the room. “Are you okay?”

 

Harry nodded hesitantly, leaning against Blaise’s chest now. “They want to take my magic for a day,” he whispered, already knowing that his mate was going to take this news badly and sure enough he felt Blaise’s hold on him tighten.

 

“No! You can’t take Harry’s magic away!” Blaise snapped, seeming not to care about the fact that he was speaking with such disrespect to the Elders. Arnaldo, particularly, looked very unimpressed with Blaise’s tone of voice. 

 

“He has broken the rules, and has been allowed to continue this for far too long, when it should have been dealt with long ago,” Arnaldo hissed. Blaise actually growled at the High Elder, moving his mate out of their reach and stepping in front of Harry to block the smaller boy from view. 

 

“I refuse to allow you near him!” Blaise said narrowing his eyes. 

 

“You do not have any say in how we punish him,” Tinasia said. “And if you continue on with this tone, you too will be punished.”

 

“I’d like to see you try!” Blaise exclaimed angrily. “According to your laws, I have the right to protect my mate-”

 

“Those laws do not apply to a mere wizard,” Tinasia said pompously. “You think too highly of yourself, Harry is only your mate because we have decided this, it can just as easily be un-decided,” she threatened. 

 

Blaise looked ready to attack, and most likely would have if Harry’s hand hadn’t grabbed his arm. “Blaise, it’s okay,” Harry said quickly. “It’s just for one day, I can deal with one day...as long as you’re there. Magic is important, but it is something I can live without if I have to… I can’t live without you. Please just calm down.”

 

Blaise let out a long, deep breath and turned to face his mate, pulling Harry into his arms. “How can you expect me to sit by and let them do this to you?” he asked, holding Harry close to him, as though worried his mate would slip through his fingers.

 

“Because I did break the rules,” Harry told him, managing a wry smile. “Just stay with me while they do it?” he requested.

 

“I’m not going anywhere,” Blaise promised adamantly, turning to glare at Arnaldo over his shoulder, all but daring the High Elder to contradict him. The man said nothing though, and so Blaise turned to look at Itham. “I can sit with him while he does this, right?”

 

“Of course,” Itham assured him. “It might make him a little disorientated, so it would probably be best if you had hold of him anyway.” 

 

“Can we get this over with?” Harry asked impatiently, not wanting to drag it out a moment longer than he had to. Tinasia moved forward to stand before Blaise and Harry, drawing a blue gem nearly the size of her palm from her pocket. 

 

“Wait,” Arnaldo said his eyes fixed on Harry, Tinasia pausing and turning to look at him in surprise. “We should use this as an example, for the others, who may have, or are thinking about, breaking the rules. It is clear that we have been too lenient on these children,” Arnaldo said, watching as Harry’s eyes widened and the small teen clung tighter to Blaise. 

 

“Surely that isn’t necessary,” Itham said, locking eyes with Arnaldo.

 

“You have already overstepped your bounds, do not push it,” Arnaldo said and Itham was forced to back down, nodding once; though he did not apologise. 

 

“Itham…?” Harry asked, looking up at the man who had always been there for him. Harry couldn't help be hurt when Itham didn't even look at him. Instead he turned to his mate, who was looking nothing short of livid. “Blaise…?”

 

“I’ll be with you,” Blaise promised quietly, running his fingers through Harry’s hair as he over to the Elders once more. “Like Harry said, can we get this done, if you are through thinking of ways to drag out his humiliation now.”

 

“Blaise, hold your tongue,” Rosario warned sternly before Arnaldo or Tinasia had a chance to comment on his rudeness and Blaise reluctantly snapped his mouth shut. “I will go and gather the other children in the presentation hall, and meet you there,” she offered, quickly taking her leave the moment the High Elder nodded his assent.

 

Harry continued holding onto Blaise, his attention focused mostly on Itham; he was silently wishing that the elder would at least look at him, just a silent reassurance that he wasn’t angry as well. Harry didn’t dare speak though, afraid that he would get into even more trouble, so Harry didn’t say anything, and when they were lead from the room, Harry hid his face in Blaise’s chest as best he could as they walked. 

 

\---------------x

 

Draco frowned, looking around the room that he and the other kids had been lead into; no one seemed to know why they were here, other than the Council Elders were going to make some kind of announcement. 

 

“Draco,” Theodore said, coming over to his mate as soon as he entered the Hall and wrapping his arms around the blond’s waist from behind. 

 

“Theo,” Draco all but sighed, smiling as he relaxed back against Theodore’s chest.”Do you have any idea what’s going on?” he asked, tilting his back to look at Theo. 

 

Theodore frowned too. “No idea,” he admitted. “I was wondering if you might know.” Theodore tightened his hold on the blond as other students around them gossiped and started to find their seats. 

 

“The only thing we were told was that the Elders are going to be making an announcement,” Draco said with a sigh and he looked around, his lips curling in confusion. “I really wish I knew where Harry was, I haven’t seen him since lunch time."

 

“I haven’t seen Blaise either,” Theodore added, as he joined his mate in looking around the Hall. “Do you think that that the Elders wanted something with them?”

 

“More likely, Harry went sneaking off again, and Blaise went chasing after him,” Draco said with disapproval. “Come on,” he added, grabbing Theo’s hand and dragging him over toward Neville. 

 

Their friend was looking pensive, his eyes currently scanning the Hall. Draco could tell, however, the moment that Neville spotted Pansy, who was currently talking with Hannah and Susan, because Neville became visibly more relaxed at the sight of his mate. Draco could understand that, even knowing Theodore was close made him feel better. 

 

“Draco, Theo,” Neville said, sounding relieved to see them as he spotted their approach. “Do either of you know what Harry and Blaise would be doing with the Elders?” he asked urgently. 

 

“Told you,” Theodore said a little smugly, causing Draco to turn and give him a pointed glare. “Right, right, not the time.”

 

“Have you seen them?” Draco asked, ignoring his mate for the moment, even as he kept a tight hold on Theo’s hand. “With the Elders?”

 

“On my way here,” Neville confirmed quietly. “High Elder Arnaldo was leading them here, with Tinasia, and Itham,” Neville said. “Harry wasn’t looking too good either.”

 

“Well, maybe Harry finally got into trouble for sneaking out,” Draco said, but also looked a little worried as he turned his attention toward the door. 

 

“He’s been sneaking out for years though, why would he be in trouble for it now?” Theodore said. 

 

While none of them had really approved of Harry sneaking out, Theodore at least understood Harry’s reasoning behind it. This was only because Draco had told him about the nightmares that Harry used to suffer from when they were younger. Although Draco had never really gone into detail about them, they had apparently been bad enough for Harry to seek out comfort from the Lower Council Member, Alais, who everyone knew had a soft spot for Harry. 

 

“When you have entered the room, please find a seat. Once you have found a seat, we ask that you remain seated!” Kire spoke out over the crowd of teens, while the other mentors went around and helped get the teens seated. 

 

“Guess we are going to find out,” Neville said with a wry smile as he headed over toward where the girls were taking seats, close to Ron and Terry. Draco and Theodore shared a concerned look as they followed him. “Harry will be fine,” Neville told them confidently as they took their seats, “he is their favourite; you know how he has always been heavily protected and fawned over since we were kids.”

 

“Yeah, nothing would ever happen to precious little Harry,” Ron grumbled under his breath, from where he was sat a little further down the row of chairs. The others simply ignored him, however, far too used to Ron’s jealous mutterings to pay them any mind.

 

“Neville’s right,” Theodore said softly, leaning close to Draco’s ear so only his mate could hear him, because a hush was falling over the room and Arnaldo strode through the doors. Theodore pressed a kiss to Draco’s cheek, before turning his attention to the front of the room. 

 

“Afternoon to you all,” Arnaldo said pompously, his eyes scanning over the fifty or so students, who were now all giving him their attention; it was rare that the High Elder ever had something to say to them after all. “It has come to my attention that some of you deem yourselves to be above the rules that have been put in place for your own safety.”

 

There were soft murmurs from the students, and Arnaldo held his hand up calling for silence once more. “Because of this, it has been decided that you may need an example, a warning that any breaking of rules will not go unpunished,” Arnaldo said and looked toward the door. “Bring him in,” he called, and a moment later Itham entered the hall, followed by Harry, who was still being held protectively by Blaise. Following behind the two of them was Tinasia. 

 

Whispers broke out across the room when people caught sight of Harry. The small fourteen year old was refusing to look at anyone, and relying mostly on Blaise to lead him up to the front of the room, as Harry was unable to see through his tears. He didn’t like everyone staring at him like this and he wanted it all to be over. 

 

“It’s okay, Harry, I’m right here,” Blaise said, trying to comfort his mate as best he could, even as he led Harry up toward the front of the room, coming to a stop in front of Arnaldo. Blaise didn’t even bother to hide his look of pure hatred as he looked at the High Elder; this person had made his Harry cry, and was the leading cause of his mate’s distress. 

 

“You all know Harry,” Arnaldo said, addressing the group of teens again. “He has been caught sneaking out of his room, after dark. It has been brought to my attention that he has been doing this quite often, without punishment. Today this is going to be rectified, and perhaps in the future, he will think twice before sneaking out of bed after hours,” Arnaldo said, turning to look at Tinasia. “Bind his magic,” he ordered. 

 

There was a collective gasp from many of the students, as well as a few of the mentors upon hearing this. 

 

“What?” Draco asked, louder than he had meant to, he was halfway standing up when Theodore took his arm stopping him from rising any further. Slowly Draco sat back down, but Theodore didn’t let go of his arm. “They can’t do this,” Draco whispered looking over at Theo, only to see his mate glaring up at the Elders, clearly upset with what was about to happen, but knowing there was nothing that could be done to stop it. 

 

“Arnaldo,” someone spoke and Draco turned his attention back toward the stage, relaxing when he saw Itham stepping forward. Itham adored Harry and would never allow this to happen; however, Draco was beyond shocked when he saw Itham hold his hand up, a blue stone in his hand. 

 

“Please allow me to do this,” Itham said, looking somber. Arnaldo studied him for a moment, before giving a small nod of permission. 

 

Harry’s head snapped up to stare at Itham; no one missed the hurt and betrayed expression on Harry’s face when Itham turned toward him. “I...Itham...?” Harry stuttered, taking half a step back wanting to hide behind Blaise, or perhaps just run away. 

 

“Blaise, if you could hold him,” Itham said, keeping his voice gentle as he could. 

 

“I am not helping you with this,” Blaise growled, attempting to shield Harry from the Elder, even though he knew there was no getting out of this. 

 

“I am asking that you help Harry through this,” Itham said, holding up the blue stone. “It will be over in a moment, Harry,” Itham promised, trying to ignore the tears that were streaming down Harry’s face. 

 

The only sound that could be heard in the room were Harry’s sobs. No one spoke as the stone Itham held started glowing, before it slowly started changing color until it was a vivid red, the glow slowly subsiding. Harry had kept his eyes locked on Itham the whole time, though he was leaning heavily against Blaise, now shivering slightly.

 

“It is done,” Itham said putting the stone into his pocket. The silence in the room remained, no one seemed to know what to do or say about what had just happened. 

 

“We’re leaving now,” Blaise said, fully intending to take Harry away from the people who had just done this to him. He picked up Harry, who didn’t even react other than to cuddle up closer to Blaise’s chest, his fingers curling into Blaise’s tunic. 

 

“You are not allowed to be alone with him,” Arnaldo reminded Blaise, who turned, fixing the High Elder with a hard glare. The only thing that saved Blaise from making the situation worse, was Firo coming up to the front of the room. 

 

“It is okay, they know this, Elder Arnaldo. With your permission, I will escort them out of here,” Firo said quickly, putting himself between Blaise and Arnaldo. “Harry will need some time to adjust to what has just happened.” 

 

“This punishment is only for one day,” Itham informed Firo and the students. “This time tomorrow his magic will be unlocked once more; however, this is a warning to anyone who has broken the rules, or may have been entertaining the idea of breaking the rules. These rules have been put in place to protect you. Please do not take them lightly,” Itham said and looked toward Firo who was still waiting for permission to take Blaise and Harry out of there. “Please make sure that Harry is taken care of,” he said. 

 

Firo nodded before looking to the two teens that had been placed in his care, “Follow me,” he instructed them. The students watched in silence as Firo then led Blaise, with Harry still in his arms, from the room. They had heard the rules repeated so many times, but somehow, hearing the normally laid back Itham warning them to obey, made them all feel a lot more serious. 

 

\---------------x

 

“Come on, talk to me, Harry,” Blaise said as he laid Harry down on Firo’s bed. Harry didn’t respond, just blinked up at Blaise, seeming slightly confused about what was going on; all Harry could really focus on was the strange feeling of his magic not being there. 

 

Firo moved to the other side of the bed. “Harry,” he said gently, trying to get the small boy’s attention. “Harry, can you hear us?” he asked, and the petite brunet’s head lolled to the other side, gazing vaguely up at him. “Hello, Harry.”

 

“Blaise…” Harry said vaguely, his head rolling back the other way again, looking for his mate.

 

“I’m right here,” Blaise assured him, grasping Harry’s hand in his own, and running his hand over Harry’s forehead. “What’s wrong with him?” he asked Firo in a whisper.

 

“I believe he’s gone into shock,” Firo said, looking a little concerned. “Can you step back from the bed for a moment?” he requested of Blaise. The tan boy reluctantly nodded and stepped away. 

 

“Blaise!” Harry cried, out feeling his mate move away from him, the small boy rolling on the bed as best he could to reach for Blaise. 

 

“Shh, Harry, I’m right here,” Blaise said, moving back to the bed quickly and gathering Harry up into his arm, holding him close; he could feel his small mate shaking and Blaise held him tighter, making soft noises of comfort. 

 

Firo sighed. “I need to run a diagnostic on him. I can’t do that with you so close, but perhaps now is not the time to separate you two,” Firo said, looking thoughtful and shaking his head with another sigh. “The Elders really have gone too far. He is just a child, to bind his magic…” 

 

“...Blaise…?” Harry looked up at his mate. 

 

“I’m here, Harry,” Blaise reassured him. 

 

“Want Draco…” Harry said, before resting his head onto Blaise’s shoulder. 

 

“I will go and get him,” Firo said, moving away from the bed; he was certain that Blaise could be trusted alone with Harry in the current circumstances. He would have been more worried leaving Blaise alone with any of the Elders at the moment. “If you can get him to drink something, that would be for the best. And try not to let him sleep just yet,” he instructed as he opened the door. 

 

However, he was cut short when he found himself faced with Draco, Theo and Itham. The young blond was clearly about to knock, loudly, if the determined expression he was wearing was any indication.

 

“I want to see Harry now!” Draco demanded. 

 

“I was just coming to find you. He was asking for you,” Firo said, waving Draco into the room; he looked hesitant to let the others inside. “I think it would be best we didn’t have too many people here at the moment.”

 

“I want to make sure he is alright,” Itham said.

 

“No!” Blaise exclaimed from further into the room, having recognised the Elder’s voice. “I don’t want him near Harry, unless he is going to undo this,” he shouted, causing Harry to whimper a little. The brunet was now clinging to Blaise, one of his hands now linked with Draco’s.

 

“I need to know he is okay,” Itham insisted. 

 

“Well, honestly, right now he isn’t,” Firo said, sounding rather annoyed that his ward had been harmed in such a way. “But I think you are probably the last thing he needs at the moment. If you really want to help, maybe fetch Alais,” he suggested.

 

“That may not be the best idea at the moment,” Itham said hesitantly. “It was Harry’s sneaking out to see her, that got him into trouble in the first place. I am honestly surprised that Arnaldo didn’t drag Alais in to be punished for this as well,” Itham explained. “Now, I would like to see Harry, and check on him for myself,” Itham said, trying not to make it sound too much like an order, but also knowing that he failed at that.

 

Firo tensed, narrowing his eyes. “With all due respect Elder Itham, Harry is in my care. I have been charged to keep him safe and well, and unless you tell me that you are coming in here to undo what you have done to that boy, I will have to insist that you leave,” Firo said firmly, before looking at Theodore who was still standing there. “You may come in, if you promise to stay out of the way,” Firo said, allowing Theodore in, before closing the door in Itham’s face. 

 

He went back to see Harry curled up close to Blaise, one hand holding on tightly to Draco, who was sat on the bed next to the smaller boy. He could see fresh tears falling down Harry’s face, and the brunet’s breathing seemed a little labored, though not so much to be worrisome. Firo truly did not know how anyone could have done something like this to such a small boy; fourteen years old or not, Firo was firmly of the opinion that Harry was far too young for this. 

 

“Harry?” Draco spoke quietly reaching up to run his free hand through unruly hair. 

 

“...I don’t like it…” Harry said softly, closing his eyes. “..I feel… I feel empty… I don’t like it… I want my magic back… I’m sorry. I’ll be good. Please… I want it back. I’ll be good… I promise…” Harry cried, curling up tighter against Blaise. 

 

“This isn’t right! He just snuck out of our room!” Draco said furiously. Harry became obviously distressed as the blond’s anger flared. “He’s supposed to be their favorite!” 

 

“Easy, Draco,” Theodore said, as he came over to stand next to the bed, reaching out to put a hand on Draco’s shoulder hoping to calm his mate down. “We are all angry about what has happened, but Harry needs you right now. You can be angry later,” Theodore said. 

 

“Here. See if he will drink anything,” Firo said as he passed Blaise a small clear cup of water. Blaise looked unsure but took it with a nod anyway before turning his attention to his still mumbling made. 

 

“Harry, are you thirsty?” Blaise asked, and he smiled sweetly when his mate actually managed to move his head and look him in the eye. “Hi, would you drink some water for me?” 

 

“Water?” Harry asked, his brow furrowed as he mulled that over, before his eyes drifted to the cup that Blaise was holding in his free hand. “...Please…” he said, opening his mouth enough, that Blaise was able to carefully help him sip some of the content. Harry looked so frail, tiny and vulnerable in his arms, and he could hardly wait to have his feisty little mate back to himself.

 

\---------------x

 

Itham was sat alone, feeling miserable, and wondering if there really had been anything more he could have done for poor little Harry. He had made sure Blaise was there, and he had done the Magic Binding himself to ensure it was done properly, but he couldn’t help but blame himself. After all, it was he who had actually bound Harry’s magic.

 

A knock on his door had him looking up, and glancing towards the clock. It was late, and he couldn’t imagine who would have business with him at this house; he just hoped that it wasn’t either Tinasia or Arnaldo, because he had definitely run out of patience for dealing with them. He pushed himself to his feet, however, and headed for the door. 

 

“Tell me it isn’t true!” Alais raged, as she stormed past him into his house before he had registered who it was. “Tell me you didn’t bind the magic of a fourteen year old. And Harry of all people, I hear!”

 

“It was Arnaldo’s decision,” Itham said with a weary sigh, as he closed the front door. He really hadn’t wanted to discuss this with anyone, least of all Alais. Truthfully, he was hoping that she might never hear of it. “I did all I could for him.”

 

“And yet I hear that it was you who used the gem,“ Alais pointed out, her hands on her hips as she scowled at him; as adorable as he thought she looked though, he knew that her anger was real.

 

“Would you rather I let Tinasia use that stone on Harry?” Itham asked her pointedly. “Or maybe you agree with Arnaldo and think that Harry didn’t deserve to have Blaise with him?” 

 

“Of course not, don’t be moronic,” Alais said dismissively. “But this should never happened at all. And you should have told me, you should have told me what they were planning. Then I could have been there for Harry too.”

 

“If you had been there, you would have been in far worse trouble than Harry,” Itham argued back, hoping to make Alais see that he hadn’t been given much choice. “While I do not agree with what happened to Harry, he will be able to handle this punishment for a single day. You could have had your magic bound permanently. You could have been banned from seeing any of the children, including Harry, and you could have lost your position in the Lower Council,” 

 

“That is something that you should have let me decide on my own!” Alais raged. “I don't CARE what happens to me!”

 

“But I care what happens to you!” Itham shouted back, his own anger and irritation coming to the surface. 

 

“Well, thank you for worrying about me,” Alais said, “but that does not change the fact that you could have at least told me about what was happening, given me the chance to be there for Harry.” 

 

“How I could fall in love with such a stubborn girl is beyond me!” Itham threw his hands up in exasperation. “I am trying to protect you! Do you even realise what will happen if Arnaldo realises how loose you have gotten with Harry? Because of this whole incident, I have to set my own plans back because I know for a fact that Arnaldo is going to be watching me far too closely, which means that Harry will be stuck in this city for another year, maybe longer!” Itham said as he started pacing the length of the room, seeming not to realise that he was ranting until a hand grabbed his arm and stopped him. 

 

“Itham, slow down!” Alais said staring at the other Council member with wide eyes. “Now...what did you just say? And could you say it a bit slower this time?” Alais requested, a light blush coloring her cheeks. 

 

Blinking slowly, Itham looked at Alais. “Which part did you want me to repeat?” he asked. 

 

“How about start from where you said you… you love me?” Alais frowned, still wondering if she had even heard him properly. 

 

“This was not the way I had planned on telling you to be honest,” Itham said, the rant from before forgotten as he now composed himself back into the semi-serious person he was around other people. 

 

“Oh no you don’t,” Alais said narrowing her eyes. “Don’t you drop something like that on me, then start to shut me out,” she scolded, and Itham blinked letting out an undignified noise as he was suddenly pushed back into a chair. He blinked up at Alais in shock. “You and I have a lot to talk about I think,” Alais said, waving her hand behind her, sitting down as another chair scooted up so she could sit as well. 

 

“...okay…” Itham said not really sure what else to say as he was still shocked to see this new side of Alais, the usually carefree person was gone and replaced with someone that Itham could easily see taking charge of anything she put her mind to. “Okay,” Itham said again sitting up straighter in his chair. “Where would you like to start?” He asked. 

 

“We can come back to your declaration of love later I think. Right now, I want to know about what plans you were talking about, and how do they involve Harry?” 

 

\---------------x

 

An alarmed cry broke Draco from his light doze, and he had rolled off the edge of his bed onto his feet and hurried to Harry’s side before he had really managed to get his brain fully working. He had known it was a bad idea to have Harry sleep in the dorm, but Lavanya, Cedric and Angelina’s mentor, had been adamant that all of them needed to return to their own rooms for the night.

 

Firo had tried to argue otherwise, but she had seniority over him and in the end they had had no choice but to comply. Still, Blaise and Firo had only been able to leave them when Harry had finally fallen asleep, but it had only been a few hours since then, and already Harry seemed to be having nightmares.

 

“It’s okay, Harry, I’m right here,” Draco said, perching himself on the side of Harry’s bed, brushing his hand over Harry’s forehead. It was warm and damp and it was obvious from the way that his friend was thrashing about, that Harry was distressed. 

 

“Draco?” Pansy frowned as she sat up in her own bed, looking over to where Draco was sitting with Harry, trying to keep the other boy from thrashing, and attempting to wake him up at the same time. He didn’t seem to be having any luck though, as Harry had now progressed to actually screaming and seemed to be struggling to free himself from Draco. “Shit,” Pansy said, climbing out of bed, “Hannah, Susan,” she said, pulling their other two roommates from their bed, not that either of them were sleeping any longer as Harry’s last scream had woken them too. 

 

“I think we might need Blaise and Firo,” Susan said, looking worried. 

 

“You think?” Draco said sarcastically, his voice raised to be heard over Harry. “Do feel free to take your time in fetching them,” he added as she and Hannah grabbed their dressing gowns and hurried out of the dorms. 

 

“You don’t have to be so mean, Draco,” Pansy said as she moved to try and help him with Harry as best she could. “It’s been a long time since he’s had such a bad nightmare,” Pansy reminded him. 

 

“I know!” Draco snapped. “This wouldn’t have happened if they had just allowed Harry to stay with Firo tonight,” Draco said. He yelped when Harry lashed out, nearly punching him in the face in his attempt to get away. 

 

“Maybe this will be enough to persuade them?” Pansy suggested, rather unhelpfully attempting to lightening the mood. Draco, however, was not amused if the growl of annoyance was any indication, and it seemed Harry wasn’t either as he gave another outraged cry. 

 

Draco proceed to start ignoring Pansy, turning his full attention to Harry as he tried once again to wake up the smaller boy. “Come on, Harry, it’s okay, I’m here. Firo will be here soon with Blaise,” Draco said, his worry growing as Harry made no signs of waking up. 

 

“Do you think this is a side effect from having his magic bound?” Pansy asked reaching out to put her hand on Harry’s forehead. “He’s sweating a lot...and he seems a bit pale…” Pansy observed. 

 

“Thank you, Captain Obvious! If you’re not going to provide anything useful, let me handle Harry, and you go back to bed,” Draco hissed in annoyance. 

 

“I really hate it when you are sleep deprived,” Pansy huffed, as she continued to help Draco with Harry, regardless. She just hoped that Blaise and Firo got there soon, because she and Draco were already going to be covered in bruises. 

 

Another five minutes passed before the door to their room opened. Firo came in, followed a moment later by Hannah and Susan, both looking as if they had run the whole way there and back. 

 

“Out of the way,” Firo ordered both Pansy and Draco. Pansy moved without complaint. Draco, however, held tighter to Harry, looking up at Firo. 

 

“He’s not waking up. I tried. He just keep screaming,” Draco explained. 

 

“Move, Draco, I will handle this from here,” Firo said, wasting no more time before sweeping Harry up into his arms. “Back to sleep, all of you,” he instructed as he carried his ward from the room, leaving four stunned and confused teenagers behind. He knew that Draco in particular would worry, but right now his priority had to be calming Harry, who was still struggling and crying out. “Hush, Harry, hush. It’s going to be okay,” he said gently, trying to keep himself as calm as possible. 

 

He had considered waking Blaise when the girls had all but hammered down his door, but he knew that Harry would need Blaise the next morning, and so was determined that he would get the fourteen year old through this night himself.

 

Firo lay Harry down on bed as soon as they got back to his room. Harry was still caught in his nightmare but Firo took his chance and cast the diagnostics he had wanted to do earlier. There was a tense moment as he waited for the magic to tell him what was going on, before he sighed. 

 

“Oh, Harry,” he said sympathetically. “Can’t do anything the easy way, can you.” And with that Firo waved his hands, causing shimmering layers of magic to weave into the walls around them, and as they formed, Harry’s cries quietened, his thrashing stopped, and the fourteen year old let out a relieved sigh before drifting back into easy sleep. 

 

Firo let out a sigh of his own, taking a seat next to the bed; he would keep watch over Harry for the rest of the night just in case, but he knew that he was going to have to explain a lot to both Harry and Blaise in the morning, and hopefully they could avoid another incident like this. 

 

\---------------x

 

Blaise lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had been doing the same thing for most of the night as he had been unable to sleep; everything inside him was screaming at him that he needed to be with Harry. His mate was hurting and in trouble, but they had been made to go to their separate rooms, and now all Blaise could do was lie there and wait until it was late enough in the morning that he could get up and not get in trouble for leaving his bed too early.

 

Huffing in annoyance, Blaise rolled over and sat up on the edge of his bed; a quick glance around told him that Theo, Ron, Neville and Terry were all sleeping soundly. Blaise rubbed at his eyes with the palms of his hands, unsure how it was possible to be so tired and so wide away at the same time.

 

He remained sitting on his bed for a few more moments, his eyes fixed on the door to the room. He knew it was technically morning, he could tell by the faint dawn light creeping in the window, and any other time Blaise was sure he wouldn’t be in trouble for leaving his room at this time, but with what had happened to Harry the previous day, Blaise didn’t want to take any chances. 

 

So instead, he stewed in his anger at what had been done to his Harry. It was the betrayal of Itham that burnt most deeply though; the Elder had always been good to them, been the one person he had thought they could trust to act in their best interests. Now though, the man had hurt Harry worse than anyone had hurt his little mate before, and Blaise was so sure that he would never forgive the man for that.

 

Not that he would ever trust any of the Elders now; not between what Itham had done to Harry and Tinasia’s threats to break them apart. He was determined to take more care with his mate’s safety in future, so that nothing of the like could ever happen again. He hoped that Alais was still loyal to Harry, because he knew it would break his mate’s heart to lose her, and he was confident that Firo would never knowingly let them come to harm.

 

The quiet sound of the door opening caught Blaise’s attention, and he glanced up towards it. In the dim light, he could make out Firo standing there. 

 

“Come,” Firo whispered, gesturing him over. “Quietly,” he added, his eyes trailing over the beds where the other boys still slept. Blaise stood hurrying toward the door, being quiet as he slipped out into the hallway with Firo. His previous thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind for him to think over later, as all his attention was now focused on getting to Harry, because he could think of no other reason for Firo to be here so early to collect him.

 

“Is he okay?” Blaise asked urgently, keeping his voice down as they made their way back towards Firo’s room.

 

“He will be fine,” Firo assured him, “but there is much we should discuss and I would like to do it before anyone else is awake to interrupt. First, you should know that Harry had a night terror last night, and so I brought him back to my room.”

 

“Harry hasn’t had night terrors in three years,” Blaise said, clenching his hands into fists. He could only assume it was the events of the previous day that had triggered the night terror for Harry. He felt his anger building up inside him again, and he silently swore to himself that he was going to make Itham pay for causing Harry even more pain.

 

“I know,” Firo said calmly, raising his hand and stepping in front of Blaise as the two of them reached his room. “I think I know what is happening, why this has affected him so badly, and I promise I will explain what I have learned, but I need you to remain calm. Can you manage that?”

 

Blaise took a deep breath to calm himself before nodding. “I will be calmer when I can see for myself that Harry is alright,” Blaise said, not wanting to sound as if he didn’t trust Firo, but he just spoke the truth, he would feel better once he could see Harry. 

 

“I am serious, Blaise, you must remain calm. If Harry becomes too agitated, I may have to ask you to step out of the room while you calm down,” Firo said sternly as they came to a stop just outside his door, but he wasn’t going to let Blaise in until he knew the teen could control himself.

 

Blaise frowned but nodded his agreement. “Can I see him now?” he asked. Firo watched him for a moment longer before nodding once and opening the door, stepping inside first, knowing Blaise was going to follow. 

 

Blaise paused just inside the door, as Firo shut it behind them. Harry was tucked tightly into bed, sleeping peacefully it seemed, but Blaise was struck by how small his mate looked, how vulnerable. Of course, when he had his magic, Harry was a force to be reckoned with, but right now....

 

“He’s just sleeping,” Firo said, pressing a hand to Blaise’s back and encouraging him forward. “I thought it was best to leave him alone while still asleep, rather than waiting until he was awake.”

 

“Yes, thank you,” Blaise said, not really listening to his mentor, his attention on Harry as he moved forward and climbed onto the bed to lie down next to him. Harry shifted in his sleep, moving closer to Blaise, and the tan boy smiled as he wrapped his arm around Harry, holding him close and watching as his mate continued sleeping. 

 

Firo stepped back from the bed, taking a seat where he could keep an eye on the two of them, but knowing that Harry needed Blaise, just as Blaise needed him right now. And if he was correct in his assumptions, with Blaise now in the room, Harry wasn’t going to be asleep for much longer now anyway. 

 

Blaise kept his whole focus on Harry, gently running his hand through the wild hair of his mate. He hated seeing Harry like this, without the feeling of magic surrounding his small mate; Harry truly did seem smaller and far more fragile than Blaise had ever seen him, and it made him want to protect Harry even more. 

 

“...Blaise…?” Harry’s tired voice caught the tan boy’s attention. Focusing on Harry’s face again, Blaise smiled when he saw those bright green eyes staring up at him in confusion. “...what…?” Harry looked around, looking even more confused. 

 

“We’re in Firo’s room,” Blaise said with a small smile as Harry turned back to look at him. It calmed Blaise down a lot when Harry didn’t seem to be quite as disorientated as he had yesterday, though he still looked paler than usual, and as the smaller boy let out a large yawn, Blaise also noticed how tired Harry still looked. 

 

Sighing, Harry closed his eyes, shifting as close as he could to Blaise, fully intending on going back to sleep. “Harry.” The small fourteen year old frowned when he heard his mentor's voice, debating on whether he should answer him or ignore him in favor of more sleep. “Harry, there are things I need to discuss with you and Blaise. I will allow you to get more sleep after,” Firo said, smiling when Harry pouted but opened his eyes and sat up a little. 

 

“I wanna sleep now though,” Harry said and Blaise chuckled, also sitting up on the bed, pulling Harry to relax against him. 

 

Firo continued smiling at the smaller boy, relieved that despite the ordeal he had been through yesterday, and the night terror, Harry didn’t seem to be doing too badly. “I promise, you can sleep after I talk with you both. I will be canceling your lessons for today so you can get some more rest, before I take you to see the Elders again,” Firo said. 

 

“Why do you have to take Harry to see them? They’ve done enough damage to him already!” Blaise snapped, his arms tightening around Harry when his mate let out a small whimper. 

 

“Calm yourself, Blaise,” Firo said. “Harry does not need your anger at the moment. As for why I have to take him to see the Elders, it is because they are the only ones who can unbind his magic,” Firo explained. “I will be with Harry the whole time, and he will be coming straight back here when it is finished.”

 

Blaise still didn’t seem to happy about Harry having to be near the Elders again, but if they really were the only ones to un-bind Harry’s magic, he had little choice but to allow his mate to go. 

 

“Will I really get my magic back today?” Harry asked through another yawn. 

 

“Yes. Your punishment was only for a single day, and considering the effect it had on you, I can promise that something like this will not be used on you again,” Firo said. 

 

“How can you make a promise like that?” Blaise asked, because the last he knew, the Elders had the last say in everything around the city. 

 

“It is because of what Harry is,” Firo said, looking at the smaller boy resting against Blaise. Harry still looked so very tired, but he had that curious look on his face that Firo had grown used to seeing over the years. “I have had my suspicious for a while now, but I was only able to confirm it last night after your night terror, Harry,” Firo said. 

 

“Confirm what?” Harry asked curiously. 

 

“You are empathetic,” Firo said, chuckling when he got identical confused looks from both Harry and Blaise. “What that means, Harry, is that you can feel the emotions of others around you. It is the reason you react so strongly to other people that are close to you,” he explained. 

 

“It’s not dangerous, is it?” Blaise asked, giving Harry a worried glance. 

 

“Not usually. It can be exhausting and difficult to handle at times, but not life threatening,” Firo reassured the tan boy. “There are ways to lessen the effect this talent has on you,” Firo said addressing Harry again. “In fact, your magic has already started instinctively creating a barrier of sorts for you.”

 

“But I don’t have my magic right now,” Harry pointed out with a confused frown. 

 

“That is why, when it was taken away from you yesterday, you were not only dealing with the sudden loss of magic, which can be disorienting for anyone, you also had the emotions of everyone in that room suddenly rushing in,” Firo paused, letting Harry and Blaise take in this information. 

 

“So… I will be alright, as long as I have my magic?” Harry asked hesitantly, wanting to be sure he understood what he was being told.

 

“For the time being,” Firo confirmed with a genuine smile. “That is something that I will work on with you; how to distinguish your emotions from those of others and how to filter out other people. Your magic seems to do this fairly well on its own, but it will be better for you in the long run if you are aware of when you have a barrier up, and when you don’t,” Firo explained and Harry nodded in agreement. 

 

“You’re going to tell the Elders about this, aren’t you?” Blaise asked with a scowl, and Firo nodded. 

 

“As your mentor, it is my job to keep the both of you safe,” Firo reminded him. “If this had been discovered before yesterday, I can guarantee that Harry’s punishment would have been different. Having his magic taken away would be punishment enough, without the side effects of Harry’s condition,” Firo said. “Itham and I would have had grounds to insist on an alternative had we known.” 

 

Even though he still didn’t fully agree with what the Elders had chosen as punishment, he also knew that punishment had been required. It hadn’t just been for Harry either, it was a warning to all the other magical children residing there, teaching them the importance of following the rules was part of the groundwork for the bigger plan. If these children were allowed to do as they pleased now, then in a few years time the World of Wizards would be worse off than it was now. 

 

“They threatened to separate me and Harry,” Blaise growled and Harry looked up at his tan mate. 

 

“You were being kind of rude to them…” Harry reminded him and Blaise looked down at Harry in surprise. “Well, you were,” Harry said, pouting. 

 

“You were crying! I was trying to protect you,” Blaise reminded him firmly; he certainly wouldn’t apologise for doing all he could to keep his mate safe. If he had a chance to do it over, he was sure he would fight even harder. 

 

Harry nodded, closing his eyes. He was feeling a little light headed as he tried to get his thoughts in order. He wondered if this is what Firo meant when he said he was empathetic; all Harry knew was that he could feel upset that didn’t feel entirely his own. It didn’t take much for him to realise the feeling must be coming from Blaise, and that he didn’t want his mate to be upset any more. 

 

“I broke the rules, Blaise,” Harry said, looking up at him. “I was scared, but knew I deserved it. I just wanted you there.”

 

“They shouldn’t have done it. Itham shouldn’t have done it,” Blaise growled again, unable to shake that feeling of betrayal that was still lingering. 

 

“Blaise,” Firo said sternly, standing up from his chair. “I think it is about time you went down for breakfast.”

 

Blaise didn’t relinquish his hold on Harry as he narrowed his eyes at their mentor. He was more than ready to argue his case because he was privately scared of what might happen to his mate if he let Harry out of his sight again. Firo sighed wearily, feeling exhausted himself, as he took in Blaise’s stubborn expression.

 

“Harry needs more rest right now,” Firo explained, gesturing to Harry, who was once again yawning widely. “He will also need some food brought up to him, as it would be unwise for him to be around too many people at the moment,” Firo added, knowing that Blaise would have argued with him if he just made the tan boy leave; at least this way, Blaise would also be doing something to help Harry. 

 

“Fine,” Blaise huffed out reluctantly, knowing that he was far from calm at the moment, and that going down to breakfast would keep him from arguing with Harry. He looked at his small mate, giving him a gentle smile before kissing his cheek. “I will be back with breakfast,” he promised and stood up. 

 

Harry watched Blaise leave the room. As soon as the door was closed Harry felt himself relaxing again, the frustration and anger easing away. He frowned. “I don’t like this,” Harry said, looking over to Firo. “Isn’t there a way to just… make it go away?” he asked. 

 

“I’m afraid not, Harry,” Firo said, as he moved over to take a seat on the edge of the bed. “It is also best that you do not try to fight it either.”

 

“How come you know so much about all this?” Harry asked, looking curious again and Firo smiled, reaching out to ruffle Harry’s already messy hair. 

 

“My older sister is empathetic. I grew up watching her struggle with it at times, and I have seen how tiring it can be,” Firo explained, pausing for a moment to mull his thoughts over. “If you woud like, I could perhaps bring her by to meet you sometime?” he suggested. 

 

Harry smiled widely and nodded eagerly. Firo chuckled at Harry’s enthusiasm; he truly was happy that the wards on the room seemed to be working and that this whole ordeal had not affected Harry negatively. The boy was apparently still eager to meet new people, and it eased Firo’s mind, knowing that Harry was going to be able to bounce back from this whole thing and continue on as his happy self. 

 

\--------------------x

 

Harry stared up at the large extravagant building that he and Firo were currently standing outside of. Most of the buildings in the city were pretty in their own right, but this one just seemed to stand out far more than any other. Harry supposed that made sense since it was where the Council had to work. 

 

“Stay close to me, Harry,” Firo instructed, patiently waiting for Harry to catch up again as the small boy kept getting distracted by everything. He had managed to put a small barrier around Harry, making it easier for him to come out into the city; however, that barrier would only last if Harry remained close to him. 

 

“Sorry,” Harry giggled, hurrying up the stairs to where Firo was waiting for him. “This building is just so BIG,” Harry said, looking up again. “And shiny.” He had never seen a place quite like it. 

 

“The place where you and the other children live is bigger than this,” Firo pointed out, highly amused by Harry’s innocent curiosity. It reminded him fondly of when Harry had first learned to ask what things were and would ask about everything. 

 

Harry nodded. “I know, but home isn’t shiny, and doesn’t have a giant tree growing out of the middle of it,” Harry said with a wide grin, gesturing up at the tree canopy that they could see above the Council Halls. Firo chuckled, shaking his head as he led Harry inside. 

 

As they stepped inside, Harry’s attention was taken once again by how different it was compared to where he lived; nothing there was as nice as this place. He practically dragged Firo over to look at the row of wooden carvings in the Entrance Hall.

 

“These are all the previous High Elders,” Firo explained before Harry could even ask, and the fourteen year old turned to grin at him for a moment, before going back to examining the carvings closely.

 

A movement on the stairs caught both Harry and Firo’s attention, and they turned to face the man coming toward them. Harry shuffled a little closer to Firo, but he was still watching the unknown man with curiosity. 

 

“Almar,” Firo greeted warmly, as the man reached them, holding out his hand to shake. “It’s good to see you.”

 

“You too, Firo,” Almar said, shaking his hand firmly. “And you must be Harry,” the Council Member said, turning to look the teenager over, who was staying very close to Firo’s side, not quite hiding behind his mentor, but it was easy for him to duck out of sight if he didn’t want to be seen. 

 

Harry, however, was looking at the man curiously. "You look like Alais," he commented with a confused frown.

 

Almar let out a surprised laugh. "Yes, I do," he agreed, glancing questioningly at Firo, who shrugged his shoulders.

 

"Why do you look like her?" Harry asked.

 

"Because she's my sister," Almar explained, giving the teenager an encouraging smile. He hadn’t really had much contact with any of the wizarding children, but Alais had told him much about Harry over the years. 

 

"Oh, does everyone have a sister?" Harry questioned excitedly, glancing up at Firo and then back to Almar.

 

"Not everyone,” Almar told him, looking a little surprised at all the questions. Apparently Alais hadn’t been exaggerating about this young man.  “Why do you ask?" 

 

"Because Firo has a sister, and you have a sister,” Harry said as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. Harry’s answer made Firo chuckle softly and Harry grinned before he continued on with his questions, keeping his attention on Almar. “Is it nice having a sister?"

 

“I like it,” Firo said with an amused grin, rather enjoying watching someone else getting barraged with questions for once. Almar nodded his agreement; even when Alais drove him crazy, he loved her very much and he wouldn’t give her up for anything. 

 

“So can I have a sister?” Harry asked, his face lighting up with excitement. “Can Pansy be my sister? We both have dark hair! I think I would like her to be my sister,” Harry had now moved away from Firo, stepping closer to Almar, the small amount of shyness he had had before completely gone. “Though she can be really annoying sometimes.” Harry added as an afterthought. 

 

“Okay…,” Almar said, clearly not quite sure how to handle this young man. “But no, it doesn’t quite work like that. You can’t just decide someone is your sister,” he explained.

 

“How do you get a sister then?” Harry asked with genuinely curiosity, and Firo lost his battle with his amusement and let out a startled laugh. 

 

Almar, however, was looking stunned and concerned. He clearly didn’t know how to answer that question and so turned to the chuckling Firo instead. "How do you make him stop?” Almar asked.

 

“You don't,” Firo said with an unrepentant grin. “You started answering his questions, so he will keep going until he finds a new victim.”

 

Harry’s grin had faded into a pout as he looked between the two men, not really sure what Firo was finding so funny. “I want a sister too… I really like Alais, I haven’t met Firo’s sister yet, but I like Firo a lot, so I’m sure I’ll like her too,” Harry said. 

 

“Alright, Harry,” Firo said, taking pity on the Council Member, who was not used to Harry, “how about we ask Almar to take us to the Elders, so we can get you your magic back?” 

 

“Oooh, yes please,” Harry said with a grin. “Can I have my magic now please?” he turned to Almar and asked, looking up at the Council member with wide, hopeful eyes. 

 

“Well how could I say no to that face,” Almar chuckled. “They are waiting for us upstairs,” he told them, leading both Harry and Firo up the staircase he had come down before. “You will have to take down the shielding you have around him,” he added quietly to Firo, when Harry was distracted looking over the banister.

 

“Of course,” Firo said with a sigh, dreading how Harry might be without it, but at least it would only be for the few short minutes until the teenager had his magic back. “And I will need to come back later after I have taken Harry back home, so that I can explain that to the Elders.”

 

“They may insist on you explaining it now,” Almar said, glancing over at Harry, who seemed to be trying to work out how high up the building went. “Alais is downstairs,” he said looking back at Firo. “You could leave the child her care as you speak with the Council,” Almar suggested and Firo nodded. 

 

“If they demand that I explain now, then I will, but I am unsure how well Harry will be after he gets his magic back,” Firo explained. It was true, many people had strong reactions to their magical cores being unblocked, and they had no way of knowing how Harry would cope with it. But more than that, he was keen to return Harry home as soon as possible. Almar nodded his understanding, looking to Harry once more. Firo also looked over at his young ward and smiled. 

 

“Come on, Harry. We’re going inside now,” Firo said and Harry looked up at him before bouncing over to where the two men were standing. “Before we go in however, I’m going to have to take down that barrier I put around you,” Firo explained. 

 

“Do you really have to? Can’t you take it down after I have my magic back?” Harry asked, looking nervous. He didn’t really remember much of the evening before, but he knew it had been bad and he found himself worried that it would happen again when Firo’s warding was removed.

 

“I’m afraid not, Harry; leaving it up would interfere with unblocking your magical core,” Firo told him, looking sorry that he had to put Harry through this once more. “It is only going to be for a short while,” he tried to reassure the boy, but Harry still looked nervous, even as he nodded his head in consent. 

 

Almar stood back, watching the two of them curiously, enjoying watching the easy relationship Firo and Harry had. His attention was mostly on Harry however, and he noticed the boy’s body tense up as the barrier was taken down. It was as if someone had flipped a switch; the hyper excitable boy was gone, and Harry was now holding on tightly to Firo, his eyes closed tightly, breathing deeply. 

 

“It’s okay, Harry,” Firo spoke softly. “Open your eyes, it will be easier,” Firo instructed and Harry looked up at him, Firo stroked Harry’s hair gently. “Let’s get your magic back now,” Firo said and looked to Almar. The Council Member nodded, and led them both through a set of double doors. 

 

As they entered the room, Harry moved closer to Firo, clutching at his mentor’s arm tighter. This room was not as ornate as the room where they held full Council meetings. The most noticeable difference was the fact that there was no tree growing through the room; the second was that the table was a lot smaller. 

 

Almar gave Harry and Firo a supportive smile as he moved over to where the other Council members were all seated already. There was space enough at the table for the four High Council members, while the heads of the Secondary and Lower Councils, Almar and Elmon, had seats at each end of the table. 

 

Firo led Harry forward to stand before the table of Council Members, though the teenager was clinging to him tightly, eyes glancing around the room erratically. Almar couldn’t take his eyes off Harry, looking worried; the boy suddenly seemed far too shy compared to how energetic he had been moments before.

 

“We all know why we are here,” Arnaldo declared, his disapproving gaze fixed on Harry and Firo. “Do you feel you have learned your lesson?” he asked imperiously. 

 

Harry, however, said nothing, clearly struggling to focus on anything at all. “Harry,” Firo whispered gently, tucking his finger under Harry’s chin and getting the teenager to look at him. “Arnaldo wants to know if you learned your lesson,” he told him. 

 

For a few moment Harry still seemed to be struggling to understand, a confused frown on his face as he gazed up at Firo. But then he nodded. “I’ll… be good,” he promised, a vague smile twitching on his lips for a moment. “Magic, please.”

 

“What’s the matter with him?” Rosario asked, leaning forward to watch Harry curiously; Elmon was also looking a little worried.

 

Firo took a deep breath, looking down at the small boy tucked into his side. He didn’t really want to get into this now, but he knew he was going to have to explain eventually and refusing to answer now would just delay Harry getting his magic back. 

 

“I discovered last night that Harry is Empathetic,” Firo told them and muttered gasps from the Council. “His magic has been protecting him, and I have kept him behind protective wards since the early hours of this morning, but right now…”

 

“Magic…” Harry whined, tugging on Firo’s clothes, “please. Hurts,” he said, looking like he was on the verge of tears once more. 

 

“We can discuss this later,” Itham said pushing himself to his feet, pulling out the red gem that had bound Harry’s magic as he moved around the table. “I am giving Harry his magic back right now!”

 

“That is not your decision!” Tinasia exclaimed, clearly outraged. Itham, however, was not listening to her as he approached Harry and Firo; and Almar, Elmon and Rosario didn’t seem remotely interested in stopping him. “Arnaldo! Do something!”

 

“Get it over with,” the High Elder instructed Itham dismissively.

 

“I’ve got him, just do it,” Firo said when Itham opened his mouth to speak. The Elder nodded, raising the gem and closing his eyes. The red gem started to glow once more, and Harry let out a startled cry. 

 

Firo ran his hands through Harry’s hair, whispering quiet comfort to the teenager throughout the process. It only took a few moments before the gem’s glow began to fade, revealing the return to its original blue. 

 

“Harry,” Itham said hesitantly, as he slipped the gem into his pocket, his full attention on the teenager in front of him. Harry was still clinging to Firo and taking gasping breaths. “How are you feeling?” he asked. 

 

Harry just nodded vaguely, wanting to indicate that he was okay, but not quite able to find the words yet. His whole body was tingling pleasantly with the return of his magic, and his mind felt clear and free; but the shock of the change was taking him a moment to adjust to.

 

“Give him a moment, Itham,” Almar said, all the gathered Council Members watching Harry impatiently. 

 

“I’m okay,” Harry managed to say a long minute or so later, smiling up at Firo as let go of his mentor. “Thank you,” he said, earnestly once he was stable on his own two feet. Only then did he turn to face Itham. 

 

“How are you feeling?” Itham asked again, looking concerned. The guilt he had felt before was now ten fold with what he had just learned about the petite fourteen year old.

 

“Angry,” Harry snapped right away, glaring at the man. Firo’s hand ran over the back of his neck calmingly, and Harry took a calming breath before speaking again. “I have a bit of a headache, but feeling more like myself again.” There was still no mistaking the blame he was placing on the Council Members, despite his calmer voice. “I want to go home,” he said, turning to Firo. 

 

“Of course,” Firo told him. 

 

“We have matters to discuss!” Arnaldo interrupted angrily, looking very annoyed that he had lost control of the meeting. 

 

“Matters that can be discussed at another time,” Almar countered.   
  
“I am the head of this Council,” Arnaldo said, standing up and glaring at Almar for a moment before narrowing his eyes at Firo and Harry. 

 

“No one is denying that,” Rosario cut in. “However, in light of the new information we have learned today about Harry, it would be best to let him go home and rest. He just had his magic returned. That added to the stress he’s been under is going to have some negative effects on him,” she said, not looking too happy about the whole situation. 

 

“I agree with Almar and Rosario,” Elmon added, looking around at his fellow Council Members. “Let the boy get some rest, we can always meet with him later if we decide it is necessary. But first, I think we need to look into how this happened in a first place,” he suggested.

 

“Elmon makes a good point,” Itham said, seeming thoughtful. “As far as I am aware, Empathetic abilities have never been recorded in wizards before; it has always been assumed to be a talent exclusive to Fae.”

 

“It will have to be investigated,” Rosario stated, and there were nods and murmurs of agreement around the table. “If you would escort Harry back home, Firo, we will let you know if we need to speak with you again on this matter.”

 

Firo nodded, hooking an arm around Harry’s waist and leading him out of the room. Harry glanced back at the Council members for a moment, tensing when he saw Arnaldo glaring at him; a few days earlier Harry wouldn’t have understood, but now he was sure that he could feel waves of negativity, distrust and even anger rolling off the High Elder.

 

A moment later though, the Council Members were left alone, as the door closed behind Harry and Firo. 

 

“So,” Almar said, looking around at the others, “anyone got any suggestions? Alais has always implied that Harry is special, but this....”

 

“This is more than that,” Rosario said. “We could try and talk to her though, see if she knew anything about this, or how this could have happened.” 

 

“I am sure Alais would be happy to tell us all she knows,” Itham stated confidently, not looking forward her finding out that Harry had been hurt even worse than they had originally thought. 

 

“Could this be related to Harry being brought here earlier?” Elmon suggested, and the others looked his way. “We should probably check the other children, make sure none of them have similar abilities, but if this really is just Harry, maybe we need to go back to the beginning.”

 

“Do we know who was responsible for collecting him?” Rosario asked. 

 

“Firo’s sister, Kaylin,” Itham answered. “She was how we found Firo as a Mentor for Harry and Blaise,” he told them. “We need to speak to her,” and the others nodded in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another chapter done! We are having so much fun writing this, and we hope that you are having just as much fun reading it, as we are writing!


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, for this chapter we would like to thank a couple people. First, A HUGE thank you to Emily for beta reading this for us!  
> And second, we would also like to thank peruvianprincess, (From Fanfiction), who provided a great deal of information about the uses of Empathic and Empathetic. It was a genuinely interesting read, though I think we are both happy with our choice of using Empathetic. Because we wanted to separate it slightly from the magical power kind of Empathy that has become a bit of a trope, and make it more a serious condition that happens to some Fae.

**Chapter 5**

_March 1995_

The other witches and wizards at the home seemed relieved that Harry was back to himself by dinner that evening; particularly Blaise, who had hugged him close, and Draco, who had clipped him around the ear and told Harry never to scare him like that again. Draco and Pansy had also taken great pleasure in showing Harry the bruises he had given them during his night terror.

Harry had apologised profusely to all of them, and hung onto Blaise for dear life, taking great comfort in his mate. He had also gone with Draco and Pansy to get them treatment for their minor injuries. He was thankful that by the next day things seemed to have more or less returned to normal. There was something that was playing on his mind though.

“You still haven’t told me what Kire told you,” Harry said with a grin, as he sidled up to Draco on the way to lunch. “And you did promise.”

“And to think I was worried you wouldn’t get back to yourself,” Draco said dryly, smirking sideways at his friend. “I should have known better than to think you would ever give up on driving me crazy.”

“Of course, Draco,” Harry said, wrapping his arms around Draco’s, and looking up with wide, innocent eyes. “I know you would miss me. But don’t you worry your pretty face about it because you are never going to be rid of me.”

“You think I’m pretty?” Draco asked with false shock, his hand raised to his lips as he gasped.

Harry laughed. “You’re gorgeous and you know it,” he said, giving his friend a playful shove. “Now stop fishing for compliments and start talking. I want to know what Kire told you.”

“This isn’t the kind of conversation we can just have out here in the open,” Draco said rolling his eyes at Harry. The smaller boy only grinned, holding tightly onto Draco’s arm as he changed their direction and started dragging the blond back to their room instead. “Harry!” Draco yelped, stumbling while Harry continued to drag him along. “What about lunch?”

“We can skip one meal, I want to know everything you do!” Harry said with a wide grin.

“Bestowing my vasts amount of knowledge on you will take longer than a lunch break,” Draco said. He couldn't help but smile when he heard Harry laugh. Although he really did want to avoid having this conversation with Harry, it was really nice to see his best friend back to normal.

They arrived back at their room fairly quickly, despite Draco’s protests, and mostly serious attempts to change Harry’s mind. However, Harry was very insistent about wanting to know what Draco had been told.

“If there is a good reason why I can’t always be with Blaise, I want to know,” Harry said, letting Draco’s arm go and turning to face the blond boy.

“Alright, alright,” Draco said in surrender. “You might want to sit down for this though.” Draco watched as Harry grinned before bouncing onto Draco’s bed. “And you have to sit still!” Draco huffed as Harry continued bouncing slightly on the bed. The smaller boy giggled but sat as still as was possible for him.

“Good enough I suppose,” Draco mumbled, he grabbed a chair from a nearby desk and pulled it over so he could sit in front of the fidgeting boy. “I’m not really sure where to start first,” Draco sighed running a hand through his hair.

“Where did Kire start first?” Harry asked tilting his head curiously.

“Well, he… he explained why you and I sleep here with the girls, and not over in the boys dorms,” Draco said and Harry frowned.

“It’s ‘cause we’re like girls, right?” Harry asked, and Draco blinked at him in surprise.

“How do you know that?”

Harry giggled at Draco’s shocked expression before answering. “Alais told me. I asked her why you and me had to sleep over here, and why our mates are also boys, and she told me that it was ‘cause we were more like the girls than the boys,” Harry said. The answer was so simple, the kind of answer someone would have given a small child, which he was compared to most of their other yearmates. Harry was more childish than all of them.

“Okay, well that is a good start, do you know why we’re more like the girls though?” Draco asked.

“Because we are so little!” Harry said excitedly, proud of himself for having figure that much out.

“What? I’m not little! I’m taller than you,” Draco pointed out.

“So is Pansy, and she IS a girl,” Harry retorted smugly, crossing his arms over his chest and sticking his nose in the air.

Draco gave an exasperated huff, and shook his head. “That’s not why we are like the girls,” he explained. “It’s… more complicated than that.”

“How so?” Harry asked, his curiosity coming to the forefront now he realised he might actually learn something new.

“We can have babies, like the girls can,” Draco told him, watching Harry carefully for his reaction. As much as Harry wanted to know the truth, Draco didn’t want to end up traumatising or upsetting him. Draco was also hoping he wouldn’t have to go into too many details like Kire had.

"I can have babies?” Harry asked curiously, tipping his head to the side as he mulled it over, but he just ended up looking confused. “How does that happen?"

"With the help of your mate," Draco said, being as vague as he possibly could be.

"So Blaise gives me babies?" Harry questioned, and Draco nodded. He waited to see what question Harry would have next because he knew there was no chance that his friend would leave it at that. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Harry opened his mouth again. “Where does Blaise get the babies from?”

Draco let out a surprised laugh, before managing to stifle it, realising that Harry was actually serious. "No, Harry,” Draco said sweetly, “it doesn’t quite work like that. You and Blaise have to have sex, and then you have babies. You make them together."

“Oh,” Harry said, nodding his head as if he understood what Draco had just told him. "When do we have sex?"

“You don’t!” Draco said quickly, taken by surprise by Harry’s question. He was rather alarmed by the thought of Harry and Blaise having sex, not when Harry was still so very innocent.

Harry frowned in confusion. “But you just said…”

"I know what I just said,” Draco said, taking a deep breath. “You’re not going to have sex for a VERY long time,” Draco paused before adding, “or never; never would be good for me,” he shuddered at the memory of his talk with Kire.

"Why?" Harry huffed in irritation, feeling as if this conversation was going nowhere, or at least he wasn’t getting answers from Draco.

"Do you even know what sex is?" Draco asked, giving Harry a pointed look.

"No, but that's why you're going to tell me!" Harry said, with a nod of his head, as though that settled the matter.

“I am not telling you how to have sex!” Draco exclaimed incredulously. It had been hard enough listening to Kire talk about it, he certainly wasn’t ready to teach Harry about such things.

Harry pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. “Then what’s the point of this talk?”

“To tell you what Kire told me,” Draco said, too used to Harry’s miniature sulks to actually be swayed by one of them. He knew that he and Harry were basically the same age, but Harry really did seem so much younger, and it seemed wrong for him to know about such activities. Plus he didn’t think that Harry knowing how to make a baby with Blaise was a particularly good idea, because, knowing Harry, he might just give it a go.

“But Kire told you what sex was!” Harry insisted stubbornly.

“And how do you know I didn’t know what that was before I talked to Kire?” Draco challenged.

Harry snorted derisively. “Because you wouldn’t have had to talk to Kire if you already knew,” he stated as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Draco smirked at Harry; he could be just as stubborn as Harry about this. “Well I’m not telling you what it is,” Draco said, crossing his arms over his chest too.

“But how is Blaise going to give me babies if I don’t know how?” Harry all but whined, looking as though he was about to cry. Draco knew better than to fall or that one though.

“I am sure Theo will have explained it to Blaise,” Draco said dismissively, he was more than ready to be done with this conversation. As far as he was concerned, if Harry and Blaise really did want to have sex at some point, Blaise would be able to explain what Harry needed to know then.

“Fine,” Harry huffed standing from the bed. “I’ll just go ask Blaise then.” Harry grinned and was out of the room before Draco could even register what the smaller boy had said.

 

\-------------x

Blaise was just finishing up his lunch when his small mate landed in the seat next to him. “There you are; I was wondering if I was going to have to hunt you down, and make you come eat something,” Blaise said with a small grin.

“I will eat something, but I have a super important question for you,” Harry said quickly, his eyes darting toward the door. Blaise turned and followed his gaze, smirking when he saw that Draco had come running into the dining hall.

“Alright, ask away,” Blaise said, turning back to face Harry.

“Do you know what sex is?” Harry asked, blinking in confusion when Pansy started laughing, and Theodore was coughing after nearly spitting out his drink.

“Who taught you that word?” Blaise asked, looking horrified and quite embarrassed.

“Draco,” Harry told him unashamedly, “he was telling me that’s how you give me babies.”

Theodore and Pansy both laughed at that, mostly at Blaise’s shocked expression. “Blimey, Draco, what were you telling him all that for?” Theodore asked with amusement, as the blond reached them.

“You know what he’s like when he wants to know something,” Draco said huffily, as he dropped himself into a seat next to Theodore. “And then he wanted me to give him details,” he added in a scandalised whisper. Theodore laughed harder, wrapping an arm around Draco’s waist to pull his mate closer to him.

“So… does everyone know what sex is?” Harry asked looking across to Theodore and Draco, then turning so he could see Pansy and Neville. Pansy seemed just as amused as Theodore was, though Neville had a light blush coloring his face.

“I don’t know what sex is either,” Hannah piped up, having been listening curiously to the conversation.

“Will you please stop saying that word, at least while we are in the dining hall?” Blaise requested, glancing around the Dining Hall nervously to see who might have overheard. Thankfully it seemed that no one was paying them any mind.

“What word? Sex?” Harry asked and Blaise nodded. “Why? What’s wrong with that word?” Harry asked feeling even more confused than he had been before.

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Pansy said, reaching over to pat Harry’s arm. “And don’t worry about these stuck up guys, if they won’t tell you what sex is, then I will,” Pansy said helpfully, earning a huge grin from Harry.

“Really?” Harry asked excitedly.

“No you will not!” Blaise insisted, glaring at Pansy. He was sure that once his little mate knew what it was, Harry would get all sorts of ideas about trying it out for themselves, and he was pretty certain that neither of them were ready for that yet.

“Not like you can stop me,” Pansy said with a shrug, not fazed at all by the glare aimed at her. “I share a room with him after all, remember?” she reminded the tan boy. “Besides, why are you so against Harry knowing this? He’s going to have to know it eventually,” Pansy pointed out.

“But he doesn’t need to know NOW,” Blaise pointed out firmly.

“Oh, calm down,” Pansy said dismissively. “It’s not like Harry is going to jump you the moment he finds out.” Blaise scowled; Pansy really was not helping matters at all. Harry, however, was confused again as he looked between his mate and his friend. Pansy waved her hand dismissively.

“But I jump Blaise all the time,” Harry told them innocently. Theodore snorted his drink again and Pansy laughed loudly once more.

“That’s not what she meant,” Blaise explained, his blush obvious even with his darker complexion. Harry said, tilting his head curiously.

Leaning over, Pansy wrapped her arms around Harry’s shoulders. “Oh Harry, don’t ever change,” she said grinning and looking over at Blaise. “So, do you want to tell him, or should I?”

“I don’t think either of you should tell him,” Theodore said.

“Why not?” Harry pouted. “Other people know. Why can’t I know?”

“First of all, I never said you shouldn’t know,” Theodore pointed out. “I just don’t think Pansy or Blaise are the best people to be asking, and Draco really was the worst choice to ask about this too,” Theodore said, giving his own mate an amused look, before turning his attention back to Harry.

“But Firo already said he wasn’t going to tell me,” Harry said with a huff.

“If you really want to know that badly, I can tell you,” Theodore offered, earning surprised looks from the others around him.

“Aw, I wanted to be the one to tell him,” Pansy said sitting back in her chair, crossing her arms in disappointment. Theodore chuckled, looking at her.

“I really don’t think you could explain what Harry wants to know. You know the basics of how YOU would go about doing it, but I get the feeling that things are a little different for us,” Theodore pointed out.

Pansy looked at him for a moment, her eyes going from Theo, to Draco, Blaise and finally back to Harry. “Ah, yes, I see what you mean,” she said, another smile forming on her lips as she turned her attention toward Hannah. “If you want to know, I can explain everything to you,” she offered.

Hannah looked hesitant for a moment, not sure why Pansy was so eager to talk about something that the mentors thought most of them were still too young to know. But she nodded her head slowly in agreement.

“Wonderful!” Pansy said, grinning happily, she wasted no time jumping up from her seat and heading over to pull Hannah to her feet too. “Come on, we can find Susan and have a real girly chat,” she suggested, as the two of them linked arms. The others watched as the two of them headed out of the Dining Hall.

“Can we go now too, Theo?” Harry asked excited.

“Please eat something first,” Blaise requested, already dishing up some food for Harry.

“I’m not hungry,” Harry said.

“Blaise is right, you need to eat something,” Theodore insisted. “You’re not hungry right now because you’re excited about getting your questions answered. I promise though, I’m not going to change my mind,” Theodore said, and Harry sighed but started eating. Blaise gave Theodore a grateful smile as he sat back and watched Harry eat. He glanced over when he saw Neville and Ron come join them at the table.

“We just saw Pansy dragging Hannah out. Is everything okay?” Neville asked.

“I think they went to go find Susan,” Draco said, as he picked at his own food.

“What do they want with her?” Ron said, taking the now empty seat next to Harry.

“Harry has started an epidemic,” Draco said with a small huff as he pushed his plate of food away.

“An epidemic?” Neville asked curiously.

“I just wanted to know what sex was, and no one will tell me, so Pansy said she was going to tell me,” Harry said cheerfully. “But then Theo said she wouldn’t know what I needed to know, so he’s going to tell me insead, and Pansy really wanted to tell someone apparently, so she dragged Hannah off to go find Susan so all of them can talk,” Harry grinned and went back to eating, ignoring the shocked looks he was getting from Ron and Neville. Draco was doing his best to keep his head lowered to hide the blush coloring his cheeks.

“You could have just asked me,” Ron said, sounding upset that Harry hadn’t even thought to ask him. The smaller boy turned and looked at him with a confused expression.

“Why would I do that?” Harry asked curiously. Though his expression became a frown when Ron actually looked upset.

“Because we’re friends! But you never talk to me any more,” Ron growled, blinking in surprise when Blaise suddenly pulled Harry out of his seat and onto his lap.

“You haven’t been Harry’s friend since we were ten,” Blaise said, keeping his arms wrapped protectively around Harry, as the petite brunet leaned back against him. “You’re the one who stopped talking to Harry first; you have no right to complain that he doesn’t talk to you any more.”

“Blaise, don’t fight,” Harry said, looking up at the taller boy. “We’ll get in trouble if you two start fighting,” he said softly. Blaise could feel the shudder run through Harry’s body while Theodore and Draco could easily see the flash of fear that crossed Harry’s face.

“If Harry’s had enough lunch, then maybe we should just get out of here,” Theodore suggested. Harry nodded his head, but Blaise didn’t seem entirely convinced as he looked at Harry’s still half full plate. “At least Harry’s eaten something, Blaise. I am pretty sure he will make it to dinner,” Theodore pointed out as he got up, helping Draco to his feet as well.

“It was only because all Harry talked about was you,” Ron grumbled bitterly, glaring at Blaise.

“I’m his mate!” Blaise argued back.

“Blaise, don’t,” Harry pleaded as he got off Blaise’s lap and tugged on his mate’s hand. Blaise turned to look at him, his expression softening when he saw how anxious Harry looked. “Theo’s right. We should just go. Please don’t fight.”

“Alright, Harry, I won’t fight,” Blaise promised, as he let Harry pull him to his feet. His full attention was now on his mate instead of the fuming redhead at the table as they headed out of the Great Hall, Draco and Theodore just behind them.

“Now you can tell me all about sex,” Harry said happily, turning to grin at Theo.

\-------------x

Theodore led Harry outside to sit on the grass in one of the many gardens that surrounded their home. Out there, Theodore answered all of Harry's questions to the best of his ability, while Draco, who had not wanted to listen to the talk again, dragged Blaise off to play a game.

“So...” Harry started, as he waved his hand over a flower, watching it bloom before making it close up again, “I’m not allowed to be alone with Blaise, ‘cause people don't want us to have a baby,” Harry said.

“Yes,” Theodore confirmed. “They don’t want any of us to have any babies yet, because we are all still too young,” Theodore said before Harry could ask the next question. Harry gave Theodore a small smile, his attention turning back toward the flower he was still playing with.

“Do you think they’d let me and Blaise be together if we promised not to make a baby?” Harry asked, his focus still on the flower.

“That is something you would have to ask Firo, and probably the Elders as well, since I think it was the Elders who originally set the rules,” Theodore said. He frowned as he watched Harry, who seemed far less eager about this conversation than he had an hour ago.

“I don’t want to see any of the Elders, ever again,” Harry insisted firmly, the flower he was playing with catching on fire. Theodore blinked in surprise at Harry’s anger; it wasn’t very often he saw the smaller boy’s temper. Though, the handful of times that he had seen it, had been enough for Theodore to know he never wanted to be on Harry’s bad side.

“Harry?” Theodore couldn’t keep the concern from his voice.

“I’m fine,” Harry said, watching as the flame slowly died down and went out. He turned to Theodore and smiled brightly. “I want to go find Blaise now,” he said, jumping to his feet and hurrying off leaving a stunned Theodore still sitting on the grass.

With a huff, Theodore hefted himself off the ground and back to his feet, intending to follow after his friend; however, a movement at the edge of the garden caught his attention. Turning in that direction, he was rather surprised to see Alais stepping out of the shadows of the woodland. He hesitated, waiting as she approached him.

“Good afternoon, Theodore,” she greeted warmly.

“You just missed Harry,” he told her, gesturing off in the direction that Harry had disappeared. “I know he would like to see you. We can probably catch up,” he suggested, but Alais quickly shook her head.

“No, it’s okay,” Alais assured him, even as she looked somewhat longingly after the teenager. “I just wanted to make sure he is okay, after everything.”

Theodore chuckled. “Well, you know Harry, he has bounced back to his usual untamable self,” he told her with great fondness. “Though he has anger about it too.”

“I did see what he did to that poor flower,” Alais said wryly. “I can understand him being angry though, that is a lot for anyone to endure. I know that Itham is very worried about Harry, and I just had to come and make sure that was coping okay.”

“Blaise, Draco and I are taking care of him,” Theodore said, frowning at the mention of Itham. The Elder had some nerve being concerned about Harry after he had been the one to actually bind Harry’s magic in the first place. “I think he would really appreciate it if you would come speak with him though.”

“No, I can’t,” Alais said quickly. Theodore looked really confused by her refusal, knowing how close Alais and Harry had been for as long as he could remember. “I don’t want to give the Council reason to question anything Harry is doing,” Alais explained. “Itham and I will both need to keep our distance for a while.”

“What do you want me to tell Harry?” Theodore asked incredulously, frowning slightly. He knew it was only a matter of time before Harry started asking after Alais.

“Nothing,” she said, sounding regretful at her own suggestion. “You can’t tell him anything,” she insisted, “if he knows we are staying away, then he will try to come to us. And I won’t risk him sneaking out again.”

“Okay,” Theodore said with a sigh. He was not at all convinced that this was a good idea, but he also knew that Alais was right; if Harry knew that Alais and Itham were staying away, he would likely try to go to them. “But I won’t lie to him.”

“Thank you, Theo,” Alais said with relief. “I know you will all take great care of him, and just trust me when I say, this will all work out in the end.”

Theodore looked at her curiously, thinking that there was something more to her words, wondering if Alais was up to something. She said nothing more, but Theodore was sure that she wouldn’t have said anything if she didn’t mean it. He nodded his head, and headed off after Harry, before Draco, Blaise and Harry started to wonder where he was.

\---------------x

“Draco. Pansy,” Harry said hesitantly as they were getting ready for a bed a few weeks later. He wanted to discuss something that he had been thinking about more and more since Draco and Theodore had told him about sex and babies. “Do you think we have parents somewhere?” he asked, when they both turned to face him.

Pansy shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe, but what does it matter?” she asked in return, pausing to carefully take in Harry’s expression. “Is this about the sex stuff that Theo explained? And about how babies are made?” she asked with exasperation; it had been something that had been a point of discussion on and off for several weeks now. While Pansy hadn’t minded offering to tell Harry, she thought that the smaller boy was putting way too much thought into the whole thing.

“I was just thinking that if that’s where babies came from, and we were all babies once, then who made us?” Harry said, determined that they were going to talk about it, even if Pansy’s curiosity wasn’t as piqued as his was. “Do you think that there are older witches and wizards that did all that sex stuff and made us?”

“Well if there are, then they apparently didn’t want any of us,” Draco snapped a little irritably. He knew that it was a fair question, and with Harry being curious by nature, it was one that would have come up eventually. Draco was also curious, and had put some thought into it as well, but Draco wasn’t too fond of the idea that he hadn’t been wanted, that none of them had been wanted.

“Do you really think that they just didn’t want us?” Harry asked, a hurt expression on his face as he sat down on the edge of his bed and pondered that carefully.

“I don’t know,” Draco said dismissively, apparently uncomfortable discussing this. He paused at the sight of Harry’s sad eyes and sighed wearily. “Assuming you are right, and we do have parents out there, they have never been here for us at all, so I don’t see why we should bother wondering about them.”

Pansy came over to sit next to him and taking his hand in her own. “There is no use in getting upset about it, Harry, because even if they exist, we don’t know them and they don’t know us,” she pointed out.

“And besides, we have each other and, as far as I am concerned, we don’t need anyone else,” Draco added stubbornly.

“Awww, we love you too, Draco,” Susan said teasingly from the other side of the room, causing Hannah to break out into giggles at her side. Harry and Pansy attempted to hide their amusement at Draco’s obvious discomfort. Harry failed at this as he was unable to stop a giggle from escaping.

“I was just curious,” Harry said, smiling once again now. Hannah and Susan came over, expanding the bed before joining Harry and Pansy on it.

“You’re always curious,” Draco pointed out. Harry chuckled, and gestured for Draco to come join them and the blond huffed before giving them a crooked smile and heading over to them as well. Harry grabbed him by the hand and Draco yelped as he was pulled down in the middle of the others. Harry wrapped his arms around Draco, snuggling up to the blond boy he saw as a brother. They both laid back on the bed; Pansy, Hannah and Susan following them as the five of them all cuddled up together.

“Is it wrong to be curious though?” Harry asked, his smile fading as he looked at Draco. The blond boy sighed, reaching up and ruffling Harry’s hair.

“It’s not wrong. You’ve always been curious about one thing or another, and I should have expected that you would also end up curious about where we came from,” Draco said with a small sigh.

“It doesn’t matter where we came from,” Pansy added, having an idea of what point Draco was trying to make.

“But…” Harry turned his head slightly to look at Pansy, “what if they’re still out there? What if they did want us, but they couldn’t keep us?” Harry questioned.

“Why wouldn’t they have been able to keep us?” Susan asked, looking sceptical.

“Well, all I can think is that if I have a baby, I wouldn’t let it go willingly…” Harry pointed out. “So if they are still around, then they probably wouldn't have wanted us to go,” Harry said.

“Then maybe they aren’t still alive?” Hannah suggested with a frown. Harry shook his head stubbornly.

“They can’t ALL be dead, with how many of us there are here? Some of them still have to be alive, even if mine aren’t, or yours… some of them should be…” Harry insisted, hoping to get them to understand what had been going through his mind the past few weeks.

“Are you going to suggest we go looking for them?” Draco asked with a worried look.

Harry sat up suddenly with an excited gasp, turning to grin at Draco. “We should go look for them!” he exclaimed. He had been so caught up wondering, trying to figure out what might have happened, that it hadn’t occurred to him that they might be able to do something about it.

“What?” Draco also sat up staring at Harry in disbelief. The girls had had to move quickly to keep themselves from being knocked off the bed. “No, Harry!” Draco said firmly. “That is a bad idea!”

Harry pouted. “But…” he started to say, but Draco didn’t want to hear it.

“But nothing, Harry,” Draco interrupted. “It is a bad idea. We’ll get caught, and end up in trouble,” Draco said firmly. “Whatever idea you’re getting into your head, stop it right now,” Draco narrowed his eyes trying to convey how serious he was. Harry opened his mouth to continue arguing, but Draco covered it, shaking his head.

“Draco is right, Harry,” Pansy said, reaching up to pull both Harry and Draco back down with them. “Now both of you stop talking. This is a stupid idea, and it’s not going to happen, so it’s pointless to argue.”

Harry reluctantly allowed himself to be pulled back down, his mind still going a mile a minute, but it was clear to him that even if he wanted to keep talking about it, Pansy and Draco were done with the conversation. Letting out a small sigh, Harry curled up between Draco and Pansy deciding that maybe he could talk to Blaise about it later.

\---------------x

“It just wasn’t a good idea, Alais,” Itham said, as he watched her bustle around her kitchen making them both dinner. She had accidentally mentioned the conversation that she had had with Theodore a few weeks earlier, and Itham had been unable to hold back his annoyance. “What if Harry had realised you were there? Or worse, what if Arnaldo or Tinasia had seen you?”

“No one other than Theo saw me,” Alais huffed, throwing a glare over her shoulder at Itham as she flicked her wrist and summoned the vegetables she needed. She let out a slow breath, leaning on the edge of the worksurface and hanging her head. Itham was right, she knew that, but she couldn’t just ignore her love for Harry. “I needed to see for myself that he was okay, Itham.”

“I know,” Itham said with a sigh, as he approached Alais and rested his hand on the middle of her back. Alais let out a shuddering breath that nearly broke Itham’s heart; he could practically feel how much she cared for the petit fourteen year old. “I know,” he repeated softly, “it’s just that I worry about you too.”

“When I found out what happened… I was so scared,” Alais admitted, still not looking at Itham. They hadn’t had much time to talk in the past few weeks, and what little time they had had was spent going over Itham’s plan, trying to explore every option they had. Alais hadn’t really told anyone how worried she had been for Harry.

“That kid is stronger than he looks,” Itham pointed out, leaning his hip against the worksurface, trying to meet Alais’ eye, but she was deliberately focusing on chopping vegetables.

“He is only fourteen, and smaller and more innocent than even that,” she insisted, slamming her knife down and turning to glare at Itham. “I know that you have a plan, but I am not going to let Harry get hurt in the process.”

“He is a perfectly healthy little boy, though, Alais,” Itham pointed out. “He is small because he was brought here more than six months early, when he was far too young. You know this, you were there, you sat with him yourself many of those nights, desperately trying to get him to eat.”

“Like I could ever forget that,” Alais snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. “It is still a miracle that he survived at all.”

“Were you aware that the woman who had fetched him, had been pushing more of her magic into him for a whole week before bringing him to the city?” Itham asked curiously and Alais’ look of surprise answered for her. “She wanted to help prepare him, but was out of time.”

Alais continued to stare at Itham in surprise; she moved over to the kitchen table so she could sit down and think over what Itham had just told her. “No wonder Harry is more connected to magic than any of the others,” Alais gasped out.

Itham nodded in agreement. “We also believe that she is the reason for his Empathetic abilities,” he told her, moving over to take a seat at the table next to her.

“What makes you believe that?” Alais asked. “A stronger connection to magic makes sense, but how is she responsible for his ability?” Alais asked.

“Her name is Kaylin. She is Firo’s older sister, and most interestingly, also Empathetic,” he explained, when Alais looked sceptical.

“And so you believe that she accidentally gave her talent to Harry?” Alais asked, and Itham nodded in confirmation. “I assume they are going to check the other children and make sure none of them have picked up other abilities?” she asked, with a look that promised trouble if they weren’t.

“Of course,” he assured her. “The mentors have already been discreetly checking each of their wards over the last weeks.”

“That’s good to know at least, but I honestly didn’t think something like that was possible,” Alais said

“None of us did,” Itham told her. “The other Elders and I were at a loss as to how this could have happened, at least until we met with Kaylin. Her empathetic abilities were just too coincidental though. And then when she explained more about how much magic she had pushed into Harry…”

“If this really is what caused his abilities, we can’t let it become public knowledge,” Alais pointed out. “If it was known that children could be deliberately given such abilities this way, some might try it themselves, and we don’t know how a Fae infant would react.”

“I am more concerned about the fact that Arnaldo now knows how Harry got his ability,” Itham said sounding concerned. “He is not happy that a ‘mere wizard’ has such a talent.”

“You don’t think he would do anything to hurt Harry, do you?” Alais asked looking horrified at the thought.

“I think Arnaldo is capable of a lot of things,” Itham said seriously. “I also believe that if he is given the chance, he just might do something to hurt Harry. If it had been his decision alone, Harry might not have been given his magic back at all,” Itham said. “That is why I was the one to bind Harry’s magic; if Tinasia had been allowed to do it, there would have been more of a fight,” Itham let out a long sigh. “That is why we must follow through with my plan; it is not safe for Harry to remain in the city,”

“But they’re still too young,” Alais said, and Itham shook his head.

“No, I believe that within the year, Harry and his mate will be old enough to leave the city. They will be able to survive in their own world, where they belong. They are old enough, and have a far better understanding of magic than anyone in the World of Wizards. That is what they were brought here for,” Itham reached out and took Alais’ hand in his own. “That is why we must distance ourselves from Harry now because he will never let go of our world if you and I are his safety blanket.”

“You want to scare him away,” Alais said, her eyes wide and shining lightly with unshed tears as she fully realised that Itham was right. She had been there for Harry since day one, had fought for him when most of the other Council members had given up on him, on the far to small and fragile baby, on the baby that had grown into such a loving, caring, and innocent boy.

“In a sense, yes,” Itham nodded his head in confirmation. There was a sudden knock on the door and they both fell quiet. Alais brushed away the tears she had forming and made to stand up to go answer it; however, Itham put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “I’ve got it,” he said, standing and heading toward the door.

He was rather surprised, though, when he opened it and found himself face-to-face with his fellow Elder. “Rosario,” he said, feeling a little awkward at the assumptions that she was likely making due to finding him there at such a late hour.

“We are needed at the home,” she told him seriously, her tone all business. “Something is going on with several of the wizarding children.”

“Is it Harry?” Alais asked as she came to stand next to Itham. Rosario gave her a small reassuring smile.

“No, your young one was not involved this time,” Rosario said, her expression becoming serious once again. “But we must be going, now,” she said turning to leave, knowing that Itham and Alais would follow.

\---------------x

Harry felt as if he hadn’t been asleep for very long, when someone was suddenly shaking his shoulder, and he could hear Draco almost frantically whispering. “Harry, Harry we have to get up,” Draco said. Harry cracked open one green eye to glare at the blond boy.

“Wha’ tim’s it?” Harry mumbled sleepily as he rubbed his eyes.

“It’s still nighttime,” Pansy said, also sounding tired as she pulled herself up off Harry’s bed where they had all fallen asleep a few hours before.

“Then why are we getting up?” Susan asked, rolling off the bed.

“All the children are being gathered downstairs,” Kire said from where he was stood by the doorway.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Harry said as he sat up to look at Draco and Theo’s mentor.

“No one is saying that you did,” Kire said, “but you all must hurry.” Kire watched as the five children all got out of the bed that they had been piled on. Susan waved her hand at the bed to shrink it back down to it’s normal size before moving over to get her clothes. “Do not bother getting dressed; there isn’t any time. Hurry, all of you,” Kire said, sounding more impatient than normal.

“What’s happened?” Hannah asked sleepily, rubbing at her eyes as the five of them moved over to Kire and followed the man from the room. In the hallway, they could see other witches and wizards being gathered together by other mentors and herded towards the dining hall.

“One of the Council members will explain everything,” Kire told them, earning soft gasps and mutters of surprise. They knew it must be something serious for the Council to have become involved.

Harry remained close to Draco as they walked down to the dining hall. He was confused, and a little disoriented from being dragged out of bed so suddenly. Looking around the hallway at the other students from the girls’ dorms, Harry was able to see he wasn’t the only one. He could see Luna, who didn’t seem all that confused about what was going on, though he wondered if that was to keep the two youngest girls calm as they clung to Luna’s side.

“Do not dawdle. Please keep moving,” Syndra said sternly, as she had taken charge of making sure Liam and Wilbert, from the year above them, kept up with the rest of the group. The two boys turned back to glare at her, but continued moving anyway.

Harry looked back at Draco. “I don’t like this,” he said holding onto the other boy’s arm.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get down there and find Blaise and Theo,” Draco reassured him and Harry smiled. They made their way down the stairs and joined the line that had already formed outside the dining hall.

“Please do not push your way inside! We would like you all to enter one at a time!” One of the other mentors said, which caused even more confusion as they had never gone into the dining hall single file before. Harry stood on his tip-toes trying to see what was going on; he could see Firo standing over by the door, standing with Ron and Susan’s mentor, Torin.

“What’s going on?” Draco asked turning back to look at Kire, who seemed a bit preoccupied with keeping the other students in line. “Kire!” Draco snapped, not used to being ignored by his mentor.

“You will know soon enough, Draco, now keep quiet and keep moving,” Kire said, and Draco looked a little taken aback by the tone of voice his mentor had used with him. Harry glared at Kire, taking Draco’s hand and pulling the blond boy away.

“Stressed or not, he shouldn’t talk to you like that,” Harry huffed, clearly agitated as he started pushing his way through the crowd of other kids.

“Harry! Don’t push people; we’re going to get into trouble,” Draco hissed, but allowed the smaller boy to pull him along anyway, still shocked at the way Kire was acting, and frightened about what was going on.

“Don’t care,” Harry said back and managed to push their way to the front of the line. He felt a little bad for leaving Susan, Hannah and Pansy behind, but Harry didn’t want to stay in the over crowded hallway. Even with his magic, the surge of emotions there was already getting to him, and Draco wasn’t much help to calm that down, as the blond was just as upset and confused as the other kids.

“Harry,” Firo snapped when he saw the small boy trying to push his way into the dining hall. “Wait your turn,” the mentor said, and regretted his harsh tone as soon as green eyes looked up at him.

“I need Blaise,” Harry said, holding on tighter to Draco’s hand as they were jostled slightly by the other kids, everyone trying to get into the room, some of them not happy with how Harry had shoved passed them to get to the doors. Firo closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head.

“You have to wait your turn, just as everyone else does,” Torin said, and Harry turned to look at the other mentor for a moment, then looked back at Firo. Something bad must have happened, for all the Mentors to be so stressed, and even Firo had snapped at Harry.

“Get back in line, Harry. You will see Blaise soon enough,” Firo said through gritted teeth, though Harry wasn’t able to tell if the annoyance was aimed at him and Draco, Torin, or the situation in general. Harry and Draco were forced to the back of the line, still holding tightly onto each other’s hands as they slowly made their way into the dining hall.

The line was slow moving, and it was quickly apparent that almost everyone was as upset and confused as they were, and many of them trying to find their mates as well.

“I don’t like this,” Draco told Harry quietly, his eyes still darting around in what he now knew to be a vain hope of finding Theo. He was pretty sure at this point that the other boys in their year must already be in the dining hall because there was no sign of them in the hallway.

“Nor do I,” Harry said sullenly, glancing around as they took a few steps closer to the door into the dining hall. “No one else around here does either,” he added in a whisper. It had been decided that they would keep the news of his empathetic abilities quiet and so it really was only those closest to him that had any idea.

It took several more long minutes before they reached the doorway, where Torin and Firo were standing, crossing names off a list. “Harry… and Draco,” Torin said as he put two marks on the list.

“You can go in now,” Firo told them, with a rather forced smile. Harry, who was still holding Draco’s hand, huffed in annoyance at his mentor and practically pulled his friend into the room, leaving Firo and Torin to deal with those next in line.

Harry paused just inside the door, scanning the room for Theodore and Blaise. He found Pansy sitting with Neville already, Hannah was sitting on Terry’s lap, while Susan was trying to take what comfort she could get from Ron, who was doing his best to ignore her. But Blaise and Theodore were not at their usual table; there were four empty seats for them.

“Harry.” Strong arms wrapped around Harry from behind, and Harry sighed, instantly recognising Blaise. “We were waiting for you two,” Blaise said, watching as Theodore wrapped Draco up in his arms as well. Harry waited another moment before letting go of Draco’s hand, sure now that his friend was going to be okay.

“Firo wouldn’t let us in,” Harry said softly to Blaise as he turned in his mate’s arms and looked up at him.

“I know; we saw,” Blaise said and Harry shuddered, curling up closer to Blaise when he could feel the other boy’s anger.

“Blaise… please, I… I can’t…” Harry tried to explain, hiding his face in his mate’s chest.

“I’m sorry,” Blaise said, resting his head on Harry’s. “Let’s go sit down, and hopefully this will all be over soon.” Blaise looked toward Theodore, who waved them on ahead. Draco was still clinging to him tightly, and, even though the pale boy had his face hidden completely in Theo’s chest, from the way the blond was shaking, Blaise knew that Draco was crying.

“Is Draco okay?” Hannah asked in a whisper as Blaise sat down next to her and Terry, and pulled Harry onto his lap.

“He will be,” Harry assured her. “He is just a little overwhelmed, and you know he doesn’t cope without a full night’s sleep.”

“Can’t have helped, Kire snapping at him like that,” Susan pointed out. “All the mentors seem to be in a horrible mood. Torin barely even said a word to me as we were coming in. But I have never seen Kire talk to Draco that way.”

“Do we have any idea what happened?” Neville asked, his arms securely around Pansy, holding her close. “I was going to ask Cedric, as he usually has some idea, but I haven’t seen him.”

“I haven’t seen him or Angelina,” Harry realised, and now they were all glancing around the room, trying to spot the older children. “Roger and Alicia are over there, with Stephen, Mercia, Charity, and Cassius, but I can’t see Lee or Adrien either.”

“Do you think this has something to do with them?” Pansy asked, her own eyes now darting around the room, taking stock of who was and wasn’t there.

“Not everyone’s in the room yet,” Blaise reminded them, motioning toward the door where the other kids were still filing in. “Draco and Harry didn’t come in with you guys, so maybe they were just separated, and are at the end of the line or something,” Blaise didn’t want to jump to conclusions yet, but he too scanned the room, and looked back toward the door. He could easily see the end of the line, and there was no sign of Cedric or the others.

As the last of the children were filed in, the doors to the hall were closed, and Blaise was sure that he saw Torin wave his hand toward the door. He turned his attention toward Theodore, who had picked up Draco and was now carrying him over to their table; the blond was still clinging to him tightly, even as the tall boy sat down. “Torin locked the door,” Theodore whispered so just their group could hear them.

Blaise went to comment on that, but stopped and turned towards the front of the room, as the general buzz of conversation dropped off. Many of the mentors had gathered together there, but Lorn was standing on the mostly-black marble steps that lead up to the small raised area where the mentors usually ate. There was a serious expression on his face as he looked over them all. He was one of the senior mentors, responsible for two of the oldest children in the home, Roger and Alicia, and he had earned the quiet respect that he now held.

“It has only been a little over two weeks since the High Elder himself was here,” Lorn said, his voice calm but stern. “He warned you then of the importance of our rules. He demonstrated the consequences of failing to do so.” Lorn paused to glance in Harry’s direction, mutterings breaking out around the room. Blaise’s arms tightened protectively around his mate as Harry huddled closer.

“But tonight, five students thought they knew better,” he went on as the hall fell quiet once more.

Harry and Pansy shared a look before both started glancing around the room, trying to work out who the fifth missing person was. It didn’t Harry long to realise that Cormac’s mate was missing. “Cho,” Harry mouthed in Pansy’s direction, and she nodded her head sadly, having come to the same conclusion.

“Five of our older students decided to sneak out after hours. They have put themselves and this very city in danger,” Lorn told them, sounding extremely disappointed. “Four of them have been found safely, but I am sorry to report that one is still currently missing.”

“Will they have their magic bound too?” one of the older boys called out.

“That has yet to be decided, Cassius,” Lorn answered. “Our first priority was making sure that the rest of you were all safe. It will be up to the Council to decide the consequences of their actions, but I assure you, there will be consequences.”

TBC  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the amazing responses we have had so far. See you in three weeks!


	7. Chapter 6

A huge thankyou to Emily for beta reading this chapter for us!   
There is going to be a LOT of fun things happening in this chapter! So please enjoy!

Chapter 6

December 1995

“I don’t need a scarf, Draco,” Harry said with a laugh, as he ducked out of his friend’s reach, “it’s not that cold.”

“I’ll let you explain that to Blaise,” Draco said as he slung the scarf around his own neck instead. The end of the year had brought with it much colder weather, and they had woken up to see the city covered in snow.

“I have gloves on,” Harry pointed out, holding up his leather clad hands and wiggling his fingers towards Draco, “and TWO of my thickest cloaks. I am going to lose the snowball fight just because I can’t move my arms,” he said with a grin.

“Who said we were having a snowball fight?” Draco asked, raising an eyebrow at his smaller friend. 

“I said we were having one,” Harry said with a grin. Draco shook his head. “Oh, come on, it will be fun,” Harry pleaded, moving to Draco’s side and looking up at him with an exaggerated pout. “Pretty please.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Draco stated, linking his arm with Harry’s and dragging him out the door of their dormitory and in the direction of the gardens.They found Theodore and Blaise waiting for them downstairs, the two of them talking together and oblivious to their approaching mates.

Grinning widely Harry unlinked his arm from Draco’s, hurrying down the last few steps and over to Blaise and Theo. “Hi,” Harry exclaimed joyfully, as he all but barrelled his mate over. Blaise laughed, his arms automatically going around Harry, lifting the smaller boy off the floor. He couldn’t help but smile as Harry’s joyous laugh filled the hallway. 

“Hi to you too,” Blaise said as he regained his balance, setting Harry back on his feet again. Blaise looked over and gave Draco a smile as the blond joined them more calmly.

“Draco’s not being any fun today,” Harry said, pouting as Draco greeted his own mate. 

“Draco just has a different idea of fun,” Theodore said, wrapping his arms around Draco. 

“Yes, and I do not find snowball fights to be ‘fun’. The snow is cold and wet, and you feel miserable, then it takes forever to warm back up once you’re inside again,” Draco said. “You are the only one here that insists on going outside to roll around in the snow,” Draco huffed. 

“Fine, then you can just stay inside and do boring stuff.” Harry stuck his tongue out at Draco, before he started leading Blaise outside. 

“We can stay inside, “ Theodore offered, looking down at Draco. 

“No, I’ve already put the time and effort into getting dressed to go outside, we might as well go walk around for a little while,” Draco sighed. His was used to the lightweight fabrics they wore most of the time, and so the thick material of his trousers and cloak, combined with the addition or a scarf and leather gloves felt overly cumbersome. Taking Theo’s hand, Draco smiled up at his mate and the two of them followed their friends out. 

“It is beautiful out here, isn’t it?” Theodore said as they walked together, and Draco hummed in agreement because as much as he didn’t like the cold, he could appreciate the view. “At least Harry and Blaise seem to be enjoying it,” he added, gesturing over to where the two of them were literally rolling in the snow.

“Harry is so childish,” Draco said, rolling his eyes but he had a fond smile as he watched his best friend. “Though I do hope that is something that never changes,” Draco added, remembering the incident almost nine months ago, when Harry had had his magic bound. 

“I’ve seen you act just as childishly as he does,” Theodore said, chuckling softly at the look Draco gave him. “It’s not a bad thing to act like a child, particularly considering how serious things have gotten around here recently,” he said. 

“Could we not talk about that? It’s bad enough dealing with it all during the week. Endless hours of boring lectures, and I feel like we’re being watched almost constantly now,” Draco told him, and Theodore gave him a sceptical look. “You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed how much more the mentors are around, ever since Cedric and the others got into trouble.”

“I suppose,” Theodore admitted, looking contemplative. “But can you really blame them? Five kids try to run away, putting this city in danger. Of course they’re going to watch us more closely.” 

“We still don’t know what happened to them, though,” Draco pointed out. “And you remember what Lorn said, that one of them was still missing. They have never said that they found that person at all.”

“I know it is frustrating, Draco, but it isn’t our business, not really. And we were told that the four of them that were found had been brought back to the city,” Theodore reminded him. 

“But if that is true, then where are they?” Draco retorted. “Why haven’t they been brought back to the school? Why are the mentors counting us every morning now? They seem very adamant about the fact that we are not to leave this city,” Draco said, keeping his voice low, just in case anyone might be listening. 

“You sound like you’ve been talking to Harry too much,” Theodore said, giving his mate a disapproving look. “Blaise told me that Harry is very insistent that we still have parents somewhere, and that he wants to try and find them.” 

“Damnit, Theo, this isn’t about our parents, or whatever foolishness Harry has been going on about now. This is about the fact that five of us have gone missing, and the whole school has been on lockdown ever since!” Draco snapped. This was clearly something that had been bothering him for some time, but with the mentors keeping a closer eye on all of them, it was harder to have private conversations. 

Before Theodore had a chance to respond, to try and calm his mate down at all, Draco was hit in the side of the head with a snowball. As Theodore turned in the direction the snow had come from, he was hit in the face with one too. 

“Harry! We’re trying to have a serious conversation over here!” Draco snapped, turning to glare at the smaller boy. 

“Oops,” Harry said with an innocence that no one really believed. “I wasn’t actually aiming at you, I was trying to hit Blaise,” Harry told him, glancing over in the opposite direction where Blaise was actually standing. 

“Harry, you are a terrible liar,” Theodore said, kneeling down and picking up a handful of snow. “There are punishments for those who lie.”

Harry yelped, ducking as the snowball was thrown at him and running over to where Blaise was standing and trying to hide behind his mate. “Don’t hide behind me!” Blaise exclaimed, grinning as he looked over his shoulder at Harry. “You started this fight, and now it’s everyone for themselves,” he said, before dropping a snowball onto Harry’s head. 

“Hey! Not fair!” Harry pouted, brushing the snow out of his hair. Blaise laughed, dodging out of Harry’s reach when the smaller boy made a grab for him. 

“Don’t start something you can’t handle,” Blaise said, only to have a snowball hit the back of his head. Turning around he saw a smirking Theodore standing there, another snowball in the other boy’s hand. 

“That goes for you too, Blaise,” Theodore said, throwing the snowball at the tan boy. Blaise dodged easily, scooping up a handful of snow before throwing that back at Theo, managing to hit the slightly taller boy in the shoulder as he too tried to dodge. 

A scream from across the garden caught both their attentions. They turned to see Draco doing his best to avoid the barrage of snowballs flying his way. Harry was standing a short distance from him, waving his hands in a complex pattern, forming snowballs with one hand, and the other making them shoot across the garden at Draco. Harry’s thick cloaks were swirling around him, seeming to react to the excessive use of magic. The blond was doing his best not to be hit by the barrage of snowball, but with the amount being thrown his way, it was impossible. 

“Harry! That’s not fair!” Draco shouted, ducking to avoid another snowball, only to be hit in the legs with two others. 

“Blaise, can’t you control your mate?” Theodore asked, looking over at the tan boy, who just shrugged. 

“Harry,” Blaise called out, gaining Harry’s attention. This turned out not to be the best idea, as Harry now shifted his snowball attack toward Blaise and Theodore instead. Though his aim was a bit off as Harry couldn’t seem to stop laughing. 

Draco reached down and gathered up a bunch of snow from near his feet. Taking advantage Harry’s diverted attention, he floated it over to his smaller friend, and right into the back of Harry’s neck. Harry squealed in shock, and Draco gathered up a second lot, dumping it into the hood of Harry’s cloak, before flipping that up over Harry’s head, causing the rest of the snow to fall down into Harry’s tunic. Harry shouted out in shock as yet more snow was dumped over his head, going down his back.

“That’s not fair!” Harry cried out, jumping around as he reached behind himself to try and bat away the snow; though it was nigh on impossible with how many layers of clothing he was wearing, much to Blaise and Theo’s amusement. 

“Maybe you should have worn a scarf after all,” Draco said, with a taunting grin. Harry growled in mild annoyance, picking up another snowball and throwing it at Draco. As the snowball connected with Draco’s shoulder, Harry felt more cold snow slipping down his back as another small pile was dropped on his head. 

“Hey!” Harry turned quickly toward Blaise and Theodore, though he couldn’t tell which one of them had done it. 

However, since Draco was still set on taking revenge for being dragged into a snow fight, turning his back on the blond proved to be a mistake, as a huge pile of snow was magically dropped on Harry’s head, quickly followed by two more, one from Blaise and one from Theodore. Harry tried to move out of the way, but just tripped as so much snow had been dumped on him, that he was buried almost up to his waist. 

“Not fair!” Harry cried out again, kicking his feet until he was free of the snow, sitting up and crossing his arms as he pouted, ignoring the snow still dripping down his back. 

“Ready to go back in now?” Blaise asked, not even trying to hide his amusement. Harry turned his head away from Blaise, continuing to pout as he ignored his mate. “How old are you again? Five?” Blaise asked with a laugh, dropping down next to Harry and wrapping his arms around his mate.

“Not five, fifteen,” Harry huffed, still refusing to look at Blaise, though he did lean into him. Harry looked up when he heard someone approaching, frowning when he saw the smug look on Draco’s face.

“Don’t pout, you started it,” Draco reminded.

“I was just having fun, and I didn’t dump snow down your back!” Harry huffed, turning away from the blond and cuddling into Blaise a little more, seeking his warmth. Blaise smiled, wrapping his larger cloak around Harry. 

“I told you to wear the scarf,” Draco told with a shrug, looking to Theodore as the taller boy came to stand next to him. 

“I think it’s time we went back inside,” Theodore said, one arm around Draco’s shoulders. 

“I’m staying here,” Harry insisted. Blaise rolled his eyes at how ridiculous Harry was being. There was no way that he was going to let his mate stay there in the snow. Pulling his small mate closer to him, Blaise was able to easily lift Harry off the ground. 

“Your clothes are soaked, Harry. If you stay out here you're going to catch a cold,” Blaise stated firmly, ignoring Harry’s protests at being carried.

“I don’t want to go back inside!” Harry wiggled, trying to get Blaise to put him down. “I hate it in there, everything feels weird!”

Blaise stopped walking, as did Theodore and Draco, all three of them looking at Harry in surprise. This was the first time they had heard Harry say he didn’t like where they lived. Harry was almost always a very happy person and they hadn’t realised that anything had been bothering him.

“Since when, Harry?” Blaise asked in concern, putting Harry down on his feet. He took his mate’s hand in his own and looked him in the eye.

“Since… since things started getting weird, since Cedric and Angelina and the others went missing,” Harry admitted, looking away. “No one’s really happy anymore. Even the mentors are stressed all the time,” Harry said, keeping his eyes lowered. 

“Why didn’t you say something,” Blaise asked, wrapping his arms around his mate gently. Harry shrugged his shoulders; he knew he should have mentioned sooner how much everything was bothering him, but he hadn’t thought it was that big of a deal.

“Maybe it is something you should discuss with Firo,” Draco said, leaning into Theo’s side as he watched his best friend with worried eyes. “He might be able to at least explain what is going on a bit more.”

Theodore fixed his mate with a pointed look. He didn’t doubt that Draco wanted to help Harry, but he also suspected, given the conversation they had just been having, that the blond had alternative motivations with trying to get more information out of Harry and Blaise’s mentor.

“We’ll talk to Firo,” Blaise agreed, running his hand down Harry’s back, sending warmth into his mate. Harry looked up and smiled gratefully at his mate. “We could go speak with him now if you would like,” he suggested. 

“He might be able to help, Harry,” Draco said, still watching his friend with concern. As much as he wanted to get in out of the cold and get into some warm, dry clothes, he wasn’t going to walk away after Harry’s confession.

“Maybe,” Harry said, turning his head to give Draco a half smile. “It’s just… doesn’t feel like his lessons have been helping my empathy much yet. But it’s worth a try,” he added before Draco or Blaise could argue with that. 

“Well in that case, let’s all go get changed into less snow drenched clothes,” Theodore suggested, steering Draco back towards home, Blaise and Harry following just behind.

\------------x

“Do you think Harry will be okay?” Draco asked as he and Theodore headed towards the dining hall for lunch. They had all changed into dryer clothes, and in Draco and Harry’s opinion, more comfortable clothes, as neither of the smaller boys were used to wearing such heavy fabric. Blaise and Harry had then gone in search of Firo, not wanting to put off talking to their mentor.

“Of course,” Theodore said confidently. “Blaise is with him, and they will find Firo.”

“I know Blaise is with him, and I know Firo is the best person to help Harry, but… none of us even realised anything was wrong to begin with,” Draco said looking at his mate. 

“Stop blaming yourself,” Theodore said, looking at his mate with a knowing smile. “I can practically hear you over thinking everything.”

“He’s my best friend,” Draco argued, a frown on his face, “shouldn’t I have noticed that something was wrong? I can’t believe he has spent the last nine months hiding what he was feeling.”

“You have always been there for him, Draco,” Theodore pointed out, stopping and holding onto Draco’s hand, so that his mate turned to face him. “You said it yourself, you are Harry’s best friend. And, if I know Harry, and I think I do, the last thing he would want was you to start treating him differently just because of his empathetic abilities.”

“I know that,” Draco said huffily, going quiet while a couple of younger students passed them. “I don’t understand why he didn’t say something,” he said, looking worried.

“My guess would be he didn’t want us to worry,” Theodore said with a wry chuckle, as he threw an arm over Draco’s shoulder and guided them into the dining hall. “He’ll be okay, we’ll see to it,” he promised, as he spotted Pansy and Neville and headed over in their direction.

“Well don’t you two look happy,” Pansy said when she spotted them. 

“Did something happen?” Neville asked looking concerned after seeing Draco’s expression. 

“Nothing that we shouldn’t have expected,” Theodore answered, sitting Draco down before taking the seat next to his mate. “Some things just came up this morning with Harry,” Theodore said, holding his hands up before quickly adding, “he’s fine,” to which both Neville and Pansy relaxed. 

“Where are Harry and Blaise anyway?” Neville asked, glancing towards the door, but there was no sign of either of them. 

“Speaking with Firo,” Draco told him, as he and Theodore helped themselves to lunch. Pansy and Neville were clearly looking for more of an answer than that though, and continued to look at Draco expectantly. Draco sighed and leaned forward. “He has been picking up on all the negativity that’s been around here in recent months,” he told them quietly.

“And we’re only now finding this out?” Pansy asked sounding disappointed. 

“Harry just told us, when he literally freaked out about coming back inside, even though he was soaked, and had a bunch of snow dumped on him,” Draco said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “He hasn’t been any different recently. I didn’t even notice anything was wrong.”

“Draco,” Theodore said warningly. “I meant what I said before, stop blaming yourself. What we need to do right now is help Harry. If he is picking up on the worry and stress of others then we need to keep things less stressful for him while he’s around us at the very least,” Theodore said. 

Pansy smiled widely at this and nodded. “Theo is right, Draco,” Pansy looked at him. “We have to keep things happy, and I’ve got the perfect way to start,” she said with a wicked grin as she turned to face a nervous looking Neville. 

“Do I even want to know what is going through that devious mind of yours right now?” Neville asked, raising an eyebrow at his mate. 

“It’s no fun telling you what I’m planning, your reaction will be better if I just do it,” she said, and before Neville could speak, or anyone else could ask what she was planning, she had leaned in and pressed her lips to her mate’s. 

“Pansy!” Draco exclaimed, as both he and Theodore stared at Pansy and Neville in shock. “She can’t do that,” he whispered to Theo, “she’ll get in trouble. See, Syndra’s coming over now.”

Theodore glanced over toward to mentor table, and sure enough Pansy and Neville’s mentor was heading their way, with a stern disapproving look on her face. “We have company,” he said, as he prodded Pansy in the side. 

Pansy swatted at Theo’s hand, keeping her other hand against Neville’s cheek and continued kissing him. Neville seemed to get over his sudden shock, and had just started responding to the kiss when Syndra pulled the two of them apart. 

“What do you think you two are doing? No, don’t answer that,” Syndra snapped when Pansy opened her mouth to answer. “Both of you, move.” She motioned for the two of them to stand up and start walking first, where she could watch them closely. 

“Totally worth it,” Pansy said with a grin, winking at Draco as they passed him, the blond boy still staring at her in shock. Draco watched in almost a horrified shock as Pansy and Neville were escorted out of the dining hall. 

“Not so sure how that will make Harry happy,” Theodore said shaking his head and going back to eating his food. 

“Theo!” Draco said turning his attention toward his mate. “Pansy just KISSED Neville! Here, at the table, in front of EVERYONE! And I do not believe her goal was to make Harry happy. Harry isn’t even here!” 

“Draco, just eat your lunch,” Theodore said giving his mate an amused look. Glad that Pansy’s antics had at least taken Draco’s mind of continuously thinking of himself as a horrible friend. 

\------------x

Blaise gave his mate a worried glance as the two of the walked down the hall toward Firo’s room. Harry hadn’t said a single word since they had come back inside, and he was trying to figure out if there was something actually wrong with Harry, or if his small mate was just lost in his own thoughts. Letting out a long sigh, Blaise reached down and took Harry’s hand in his own. 

“Talk to me, Harry,” Blaise said. Harry looked up at him in surprise.

“Talk to you about what?” Harry asked. 

“About what’s on your mind,” Blaise said, “or tell me why you never said anything to us sooner if the lessons with Firo weren’t working as well as you thought. I want to protect you, Harry, but I can’t do that if you start hiding things from me,” Blaise said seriously. 

“I wasn’t hiding it exactly,” Harry said hesitantly, and Blaise fixed him with a sceptical stare. “Okay, maybe a little, but it isn’t that bad, and I just didn’t want to worry you…”

“Harry, this was bothering you enough to make you want sit in the snow wearing wet and cold clothes, rather than come back inside,” Blaise pointed out. “I hate that anything would make you feel that miserable.”

“I’m not miserable, Blaise, I promise,” Harry said earnestly, “it just gets a little much sometimes.”

“Well then, how about we start with you telling me when it gets to be too much,” Blaise suggested, wrapping his arm around Harry, and pulling his mate into his side as they walked. “Or you could tell Draco, or Firo, if you didn’t want to talk to me,” he added, unable to keep the anxiousness from his face.

“Of course it’s you I want to talk to,” Harry stated as though Blaise was crazy for even thinking otherwise, “I always want to talk to you. You’re my mate.” 

“Yes, you are,” Blaise said rather smugly as they reached Firo’s room. “All mine.”

“Stop looking so pleased with yourself,” Harry chastised, though he couldn’t keep the smile from his face as he raised his hand and knocked on their mentor’s door. They could hear footsteps inside and a moment later the door was opened.

“Harry. Blaise,” Firo said, sounding and looking surprised to see the pair of them. “Are you both okay?” he asked urgently, genuine concern in his eyes as he looked between the pair of them, as he waved them into the room, shutting the door behind them.

“We’re fine,” Harry said cheerfully, and Blaise just sighed, shaking his head in exasperation. 

“Neither of us are hurt, but Harry has been having more trouble with his empathy ability than he was letting on,” Blaise said. Firo nodded his understanding, a concerned frown on his face as he gestured for them to take their usual seats.

“Can you tell me what you have been feeling, Harry?” Firo requested, as he sat down opposite them. Harry hesitated. “We can’t help you if you don’t talk to us.”

“That’s what I told him,” Blaise declared. Firo fixed him with a pointed look and Blaise raised his hands in surrender, falling quiet and leaning back in his chair, waiting for Harry to speak.

“You, and the other mentors, you’re all so…” Harry trailed off, a pensive expression on his face as he waved a hand vaguely.

“Stressed?” Firo suggested. “Worried?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah.” Harry looked down at his hands fidgeting slightly as he thought about what he was going to say next. Firo waited patiently for his ward to continue, but after a few moments had passed, Harry still hadn't said anything else. 

“Harry, you know you can tell me anything,” Firo said. Harry had always been so open about everything that it was strangely out of character for him to be so quiet now. 

“I know,” Harry said, glancing up at his mentor. “It's just… you’ve been really stressed too, and I don't want to make things worse,” Harry said, his eyes lowering once again. He could feel the shock, though he couldn’t tell if it was coming from Firo or Blaise, but Harry concluded that it was most likely coming from the both of them.

“Harry,” Blaise began, but Firo held a hand up silencing him. 

“What do you think you will make worse?” Firo asked. The only response he got from the small boy was a simple shrug of his shoulder. “Harry,” Firo stood and moved over to crouch in front of Harry.

“I don’t want you to leave me too,” Harry practically whispered, his eyes fixed on the floor next to Firo, refusing to look at either him or Blaise. 

“What do you mean?” Blaise asked in confusion, reaching over to take Harry’s hand. “Who left you?”

“Alais!” Harry declared angrily, tears falling now. “I was too much trouble, and now she doesn’t want to see me any more,” pulling his hand away from Blaise to wipe away his tears angrily. 

“No, no,” Firo said urgently, “that’s not what happened, Harry. I know you miss Alais, but it is far more complicated than that. And besides, there is nothing you could do that would push me and Blaise away. Right?” he added, glancing over to Harry’s mate. 

“Of course. You’re stuck with me,” Blaise said, forcing a grin and trying to lighten the mood. Harry, however, was not fooled, and could feel the sadness and pity rolling off his mate. 

“Would it help if I promised to talk to Alais?” Firo offered. “I am sure she has very good reasons for not coming to see you recently because I know that she loves you more than anything.”

Harry shook his head, he still would like to see Alais, but he was afraid that even if Firo talked to her, she wouldn’t come see him. “She hasn’t been around in months… and everyone is still dealing with what happened with the older kids that tried to run away,” Harry wiped at his eyes again, the tears drying up as he pushed his own anger and hurt back down once more. 

“We are all still worried about what happened because we still haven’t figured out why they tried to run away,” Firo confessed to Harry. “Us being worried about that should not be a burden for you too, Harry.” He reached up and ran his hand through Harry’s hair soothingly. 

“You really don’t know why they tried to leave?” Blaise asked, giving their mentor a curious look. 

“We have gotten very little out of them in the past few months, which is why they have been staying somewhere other than this home,” Firo explained. “The Elders believe it would be best if they had limited interaction with everyone here until the exact reason why they ran away is discovered.” 

“Cho wouldn’t have run away, not without a good reason; maybe Cormac hurt her?” Harry suggested.

“What makes you think that her mate would hurt her, Harry?” Firo asked, frowning as Harry lowered his head to stare at the floor again. “Harry, if you know something…” Firo trailed off still watching the small boy. 

“I don’t know anything really,” Harry said. “It’s just… Cho never liked Cormac. He’s not really nice, and… maybe he didn’t hurt her, but I wouldn’t put it passed him to threaten to hurt her,” Harry said, looking up at Firo again. 

“Okay, I promise we will look into that,” Firo assured him. “But I promise you that Cho is perfectly safe now. Though, like I said, she will not be returning home until we have more answers about what happened.”

“Maybe they just wanted to know what else was out there?” Harry suggested, swinging his feet and avoiding looking at Firo. Having lived in their home in the Fae city for as long as they could remember, Harry had often wondered that himself over the years, even more lately. 

“Harry…” Firo said sternly, a finger under Harry’s chin to tilt his ward’s head up to look him in the eye, “... I understand your curiosity, but please don’t do anything silly. You are safe here, and we just want to protect you.”

“I know,” Harry said with a sigh. Firo fixed him with a pointed look, and Harry bit his lip nervously.

“Promise me you won’t try to leave the city. Please, Harry,” Firo implored. Harry could feel the worry coming from his mentor and so reluctantly nodded his head; the last thing he wanted to do was upset Firo. 

Firo sighed with relief, pushing himself to his feet and pressing a kiss to the top of Harry’s head. “Thank you,” he said softly, as he returned to his own seat. “Now, have either of you eaten yet?” Firo asked, smiling when Harry shook his head. “Then why don’t you both go have some lunch, and then come back here this afternoon and we can work on directing your magic to shield your mind,” he suggested. 

Harry smiled happily, and as he jumped out of his seat to give Firo a hug, Blaise couldn’t help but chuckle at his mate. “Come on Harry,” he said, taking his mate by the hand and leading him out of their mentor’s room. 

\--------------------x

Harry was feeling a little happier after they left Firo’s rooms. Although he was still worried and curious about what was going on with the missing kids, he trusted Firo enough when his mentor said that everything was okay. Harry just wished that he could go see them, since he didn’t fully understand why they had to be kept some place different than here. 

“You’re still thinking too much,” Blaise said, chuckling when Harry turned wide eyes up toward him. 

“How do you know that?” Harry raised an eyebrow at his mate. 

“Because you’re far too quiet, meaning that there is something still on your mind.” Blaise shrugged and Harry sighed, nodding his head, though he remained silent. “Harry,” he pulled his small mate to a stop, turning the other boy to face him. “Please talk to me, Harry, I don’t like it when you start keeping things to yourself like this,” Blaise said. 

“I’m not doing it on purpose,” Harry admitted. “I like talking to you… I want to talk to you, but…” Harry glanced back in the direction they had come from. Blaise turned his head slightly to look where Harry had his attention, before looking back at his small mate. 

“Harry, anything you say, anything you tell me from this point on will stay between the two of us,” Blaise promised. “Unless you tell me it’s okay for Firo to know, I won’t say anything. He is our mentor. He has always been there for both of us, and I respect him; however, you come first before anyone else,” Blaise said. From the bright smile that he received from Harry, Blaise was sure that he had managed to convince Harry to start talking. 

The smile faded too quickly for Blaise’s liking, replaced with a serious look that he didn’t think belonged on Harry’s face. “Blaise… if... if I decided I wanted to leave the city some day…” Harry stared up at his mate, taking in the shock he could feel coming from him. Though Blaise kept his expression mostly blank, Harry could still feel the emotions coming from him quite clearly. 

“Is that what you want to do?” Blaise asked. 

“Yes… and no,” Harry sighed. “I want to know what’s out there. Even though Firo made me promise I wouldn’t do anything silly, I… I don’t think this is silly. There’s something outside the city, Blaise. And maybe our parents are out there, maybe not, but recently I’ve been feeling more… trapped,” Harry admitted. “I don’t know if I’m picking that up from someone else around here, but I’m fairly sure that it’s my own feelings…”

“Whatever you want to do Harry, I will be with you the whole way,” Blaise said firmly. “And although I don’t want to speak for the two of them, I am fairly sure that Draco and Theo will be right by your side as well.” Keeping hold on Harry’s hand, he pulled his small mate to start walking again. 

“You think?” Harry asked. “I wouldn’t want to get them, or you, in trouble, but…”

“You are not going anywhere without me,” Blaise interrupted, before Harry could start double guessing himself and pushing him away again. “Do you hear that?” he asked. 

“That sounds a lot like Draco,” Harry said, looking up at his mate in bemusement. The two of them picked up their pace, and as they rounded the corner they saw their two friends standing outside the dining hall, and sure enough, Draco was ranting rather loudly about something. Theodore had obviously been listening to Draco go on for a while now, if the look of mild exasperation was any indication. 

“I just don’t understand!” Draco all but shouted. “Why would Pansy risk getting into trouble?”

“Draco…” Theodore said, trying to calm his mate down, knowing this to be pointless since he had been trying to do just that since the incident happened. 

“I mean, the mentors were right there!” Draco went on, apparently oblivious to anything his mate was saying. 

“Draco…”

“What if they…?” Draco started to say, but Theodore stepped forward. Reaching out, Theodore wrapped his hand behind his mate’s head, his fingers threading into Draco’s hair as he leaned forward he had a moment to take in Draco’s stunned expression before he pressed their lips together. 

Harry gasped, his hand tightening on Blaise’s arm, as the two of them froze in their steps, staring at their two friends. “They are going to be in so much trouble,” he said in a whisper, not wanting to disturb the moment between Draco and Theo, but unable to take his eyes off them either.

“We should probably stop them,” Blaise said, though he made no move to step forward, even as Theodore started pushing Draco back so that the blond was pinned against the wall. Neither he or Harry moved as they watched their friends, at least not until Draco had let out a soft moan. Blaise decided it was time to put a stop to this before one of the mentors caught them, so he cleared his throat loudly. 

Theodore slowly pulled away from Draco, looking down at his mate who still seemed to be a bit shocked by the sudden kiss, cheeks flushed as silver eyes stared back up at him. “So, think it would be worth getting in trouble, if we were to kiss again?” Theodore questioned. 

Draco narrowed his eyes at Theo. “Kissing… is fine,” Draco admitted reluctantly, “but I’m not having sex with you,” he said firmly and Theodore threw his head back laughing loudly, pulling Draco away from the wall before turning to see Blaise and Harry still standing there. 

“Hi guys,” Theodore greeted, a pleased grin on his face. 

“Hi yourself,” Blaise said, while Harry hurried over to Draco grinning widely at his best friend. 

“You just kissed Theo!” Harry said excitedly.

“Technically I kissed him,” Theodore pointed out. 

“Same difference,” Harry said, waving his hand dismissively, his attention back on Draco, who was doing his best to control the blush that still colored his cheeks. “I can’t believe you just kissed!”

“Try saying that a little louder, Harry, I don’t think the Elders quite heard you,” Draco said, quickly covering Harry’s mouth when it looked as if his small friend was about to do just that. “I wasn’t serious!” 

Harry giggled as he batted Draco’s hand away. “I know that,” he assured his friend. “But Theo kissed you,” he repeated in an excited whisper. 

“I did notice,” Draco told him with a roll of his eyes. “It was kind of hard to miss, seeing as how I was quite involved with it,” Draco huffed. 

“It looked fun,” Harry said. 

“You could try it for yourself,” Theodore suggested, with a smug smile. 

“No!” Draco said firmly, glaring at Theodore. “There has been more enough of… that, for one day. We still don’t even know how much trouble Pansy and Neville are in.”

“Where are they?” Harry asked curiously, as Blaise wrapped an arm around his waist and guided him into the dining hall, Draco and Theodore following them, even though the two had just come from there.

“Syndra led them out during lunch after Pansy kissed Neville,” Theodore explained, not sounding too concerned at all, contrary to the panicked expression on Draco’s face.

“And I missed that?” Harry asked, pouting. “I’ll have to ask Pansy about it later,” he said decisively, taking his seat. 

“If she’s even back in our room today. Syndra looked really upset with them,” Draco said, sitting next to Harry, watching his friend dish up some food. 

“I still don’t understand why though, Blaise kisses me all the time,” Harry pointed out. 

“On the forehead, or the cheek,” Draco said. “Kissing like that… it’s different.”

“Hmm,” Harry hummed, thinking it over. “So, Pansy and Neville were kissing like you and Theo? And that’s a special kind of kissing, just for mates?” 

“Exactly,” Theodore said, “and I am sure Blaise would be happy to demonstrate at some point soon.” 

“Of course,” Blaise said with a smirk. 

“Okay,” Harry said happily, returning to his lunch. Draco, next to him, groaned and rested his forehead on the table; he had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well. 

\------------x

Syndra had been very unhappy with Pansy and Neville, so much so that their mentor had kept Pansy with her for a week, sending Neville to spend the week under the watchful gaze of Lavanya, who had been Cedric’s mentor. 

Pansy had been in bed for barely ten minutes when she felt the mattress dip, having been allowed out of Syndra’s rooms earlier that day. Having thought that her dorm mates were already sleeping, she looked up over her shoulder in surprise. She was, however, even more surprised to see Draco sitting on the edge of her bed because usually it was Harry seeking a little extra comfort at night. 

“Draco?” she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes so she could see the blond boy better, frowning as her friend sat there, looking pensive. She sat up in her bed, shuffling over to give Draco a little more room.

“Why did you kiss Neville?” he asked without preamble, as he made himself more comfortable. 

Pansy chuckled. “Because I wanted to,” she stated confidently, flashing him an unrepentant grin; even a week with Syndra, away from Neville couldn’t make her regret it. Draco, however, frowned at her, still looking a bit confused. “Last year, I saw Cho doing it, and…”

“Cho was kissing Cormac?” Draco interrupted, his voice a scandalised whisper, but Pansy giggled and grinned widely, shaking her head. 

“She was kissing Cedric,” she told him, relishing the scandalised gasp from her friend.

“But Cedric is Angelina’s mate,” Draco pointed out, disapprovingly. 

“And Cho is Cormac’s,” Pansy added. “But Cho said that she didn’t like Cormac that way, and that she loved Cedric. I guess not everyone is as lucky as us with our mates,” she said, smirking at him. 

A blush coloured Draco’s cheeks as he thought about the kiss he and Theodore had shared the week before. Something else was occurring to him too though. “Do you think that’s why Cho went with Cedric, Angelina, Lee and Adrien, when they tried to leave the city?” Draco asked eagerly.

“Oh,” Pansy said, tipping her head and mulling it over, “I hadn’t thought of that. I bet you’re right!”

“Shhh,” Draco said quickly, glancing over to Harry, Susan and Hannah’s beds, glad that Pansy’s exclamation hadn’t woken any of them. “Do you think that the mentors know?”

“That they were kissing? Or that they didn’t want to be with their mates?” Pansy asked. “Maybe that’s why they haven’t allowed them to come back here,” she added. “I mean, what if others decided they didn’t want to be with their mates?”

“The mentors and the Council wouldn’t like that,” Draco said seriously. “I am glad that I have Theo. I wouldn’t want my mate to be anyone else.”

“So I hear,” Pansy said with a knowing grin. “Apparently you and Theodore did a little kissing yourselves. You are so naughty, Draco,” she said, and he thought she actually sounded proud.

“Who told you?” Draco asked, but a look of comprehension crossed his face. He turned to glare at his best friend, who was cuddled up under his blankets, facing away from them. “For someone so little, Harry sure has a big mouth.”

“Do not,” Harry argued, turning over in his bed to glare at his friends. Though he broke into an innocent smile when both Draco and Pansy narrowed their eyes at him. “I couldn’t sleep,” he hedged. 

“Sure,” Draco said skeptically, “and it was nothing to do with wanting to hear what Pansy and I were talking about?” 

“Did you really see Cho kissing Cedric?” Harry asked Pansy, instead of answering Draco.

“I did,” Pansy said. “Last year, I just sort of found them together. I had been looking for Cedric originally, I remember there was something that I really wanted to ask him… anyway, I found him and Cho kissing.” Pansy shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal, then again, she had had a whole year to get used to the idea of two people being with someone other than their mate. 

“Why were they kissing?” Harry asked, as he sat up, his blankets bunching around his waist. 

“I don’t know, they told me that they loved each other,” Pansy shrugged. “It made sense to me. I mean, even though we’ve all grown up together, and I don’t know if I could see myself with anyone other than Neville, if you look at poor Susan, she is stuck with Ron. It is obvious to anyone that they don’t really like each other,” Pansy pointed out. 

Harry looked over toward Susan’s bed, thinking over what Pansy has just said. “But she and Ron are supposed to be together…” Harry said. He looked back at Pansy. 

“And what if whoever decided that made a mistake?” Pansy said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Not with all of us,” she added quickly, when Harry looked suddenly outraged, “I don’t think anyone could deny that you belong with Blaise,” she assured him, and Harry let out a sigh of relief. “But for others, like Cedric and Cho. If they don’t actually get along with the mate chosen for them, there really isn’t much we can do,” Pansy pointed out. 

“They could have always tried talking to the Elders, instead of running away,” Harry said, though even Harry looked skeptical about this bit of advice. Harry let out a long sigh, flopping back on his bed so he could stare up at the ceiling. “I just wish things could go back to normal.”

Pansy and Draco exchanged a look, before they moved from Pansy’s bed over to Harry’s. Pansy waved her hand expanding Harry’s bed slightly so that the three of them could fit more comfortably. Draco crawled onto the bed, climbing over Harry and settled down on one side, while Pansy took up the other side, the smaller boy was sandwiched between the two of them. 

“Things will go back to normal eventually,” Draco said. “As long as people learn how to behave,” he added, looking across Harry to Pansy. 

“I make no promises,” Pansy said seriously, and Harry giggled. 

“At least don’t go kissing Neville in the middle of the dining hall again,” Draco said with a huff. 

“Oh, okay I think I can manage that, though I think I might get into more trouble if we both sneak off to go kiss in private; that may lead to other things,” Pansy said, and couldn’t hold back the laugh at Draco’s horrified expression. 

“You wouldn’t dare!” Draco said, only to realise that yes, Pansy would indeed dare. Harry giggled again at the antics between his two friends. 

“So, what is kissing actually like?” Harry asked suddenly, his voice full of excited curiosity. 

“Can’t explain it, you’ll just have to kiss Blaise and find out for yourself,” Pansy said, a somewhat dreamy expression on her face. 

“Do not encourage him!” Draco hissed, scowling at her. “Harry shouldn’t be doing stuff like that.”

“Why not?” Harry turned his head to pout at Draco. “You kissed Theo, and Pansy kissed Neville.”

Pansy let out a loud surprised laugh at the outrage in Harry’s voice. She happened to agree with Harry, that he could do anything they could. “Stop babying him, Draco,” she chastised. 

“Maybe you could all stop babying him tomorrow?” Susan asked sleepily from across the room. “Some of us would actually like to get some sleep.”

“Sorry, Susan,” Harry, Pansy and Draco called out, the three of them snuggling down into Harry’s bed together.

\------------x

“Draco!” 

Kire’s annoyed voice broke into the blond’s mind, and Draco jerked awake. Draco blinked away the edges of his confusion, sitting himself more upright in his chair as he took in the worried face of his mate, and the annoyed scowl of his mentor.

“You fell asleep,” Theodore told him, before Draco had a chance to ask.

“Oh…” Draco said rubbing his eyes and yawning widely before he looked back to Kire. “Sorry,”

“Do try to stay awake and pay attention, Draco,” Kire said sternly. 

“I can’t help it, this lecture is boring,” Draco said, already resting his head back on his arms. “Why do we have to learn about how we have magic? And what do I care about the World of Wizards anyway?” he asked, yawning again. 

“It is important that you learn this, because you may one day return to the World of Wizards, and it has come to our attention that you, along with all the other children here, are vastly unprepared for such a thing. You must learn their history, so that you do not repeat the mistakes that they have made…” Kire trailed off, staring at Draco as his ward pulled the hood of his tunic up over his head.. “Draco!” Kire snapped, more than a little surprised at Draco’s actions.

“I’m awake!” Draco snapped back, but he didn’t lift his head from where it was resting on his desk, though he didn’t remove his hood. Theodore did his best to hide his amusement at Kire’s obvious frustration about the situation. 

“Maybe, today isn’t the best day for this kind of lecture?” Theodore suggested, seeing their mentor’s temper rising. “Even if we continue today, Draco is going to continue falling asleep, and won’t remember the lesson anyway,” Theodore pointed out, looking imploringly at Kire, who looked like he was going to refuse to let them leave and demand that Draco pay attention. “You’re just going to have to repeat this lesson again later. If you allow us to have the rest of the day off, I will make sure that Draco gets the rest he needs, and we will be here earlier tomorrow,” Theodore offered. 

Kire let out a frustrated sigh, waving his hand toward the door. “Very well, just leave,” he said watching as Theodore stood from his own seat, and quickly pulled Draco up to his feet, much to the protests of the tired boy. “Draco, if this happens again, I will be forced to punish you,” Kire warned. 

“It won’t happen again,” Theodore promised on Draco’s behalf, smiling as his blond mate leaned against him on their way out the door. They still had an hour before lunch, but Theodore lead Draco to the dining hall regardless. 

“Why are you so tired today, Draco?” Theodore asked. 

“I was just up late last night, and Kire’s lecture really was boring,” Draco told him petulantly. “Sleep sounded better than listening to him.” 

“Admittedly, all this wizarding history is not my favourite of subjects either,” Theodore agreed, “but I am sure that Kire has a good reason for teaching it to us. And what were you doing up late last night, anyway?” he questioned, deciding not to bother wasting his breath on convincing Draco of the importance of their lessons.

Draco shrugged, avoiding Theodore’s eye, not wanting his mate to see the flush that covered his cheeks. “Just talking to Harry and Pansy about some things,” he said dismissively.

“I had figured that much out on my own,” Theodore chuckled. He knew that the three of them talked about everything, often late at night whilst cuddled up in bed, but he didn’t mind in the slightest, he was glad that Draco had both Harry and Pansy. “I was more inquiring about what you were discussing,” he clarified.

“Nothing much; just the normal stuff,” Draco said as if that would be enough of an answer. 

“I don’t know what you guys usually talk about though,” Theodore pointed out. “Is it something that I’m not allowed to know about?” Theodore asked, smiling as he caught sight of the blush coloring Draco’s cheeks. 

“No… not really,” Draco said, glancing toward Theodore before looking away again. “I wanted to know why Pansy kissed Neville,” Draco said softly. 

“And what did she say?” Theodore asked curiously. 

“Why are you so curious all of a sudden? You’ve never wanted to know what we talk about before,” Draco said, looking at Theo. 

“I’m not all that curious really, but you blush so prettily,” Theodore commented laughing out loud when he saw Draco’s cheeks darken even more. 

Draco huffed in annoyance, hitting Theodore in the arm before starting to storm off. He had only made it two steps before Theodore grabbed his arm, turning him around and pulling him close so that their chests were pressed together. 

“You’re even adorable when you’re mad,” Theodore said, reaching up a hand and sliding Draco’s hood back off his mate’s head, before leaning down and pressing his lips to Draco’s, smiling when he felt a shudder run through his mate’s body. Theodore wrapped his arms around Draco, his hands slowly sliding down the blond boy’s back until they reached Draco’s arse, giving it a light squeeze. 

“Theo,” Draco gasped, leaning his head back enough to break the kiss between them, staring up at his mate in shock, “we can’t,” he insisted, his hands against Theodore’s chest, and his mate took a step back without hesitation. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to push…” Theodore said, his hand covering Draco’s, which was still pressed against his chest. 

“It’s okay,” Draco said, his eyes looking either way down the still empty corridor, “I just don’t want us to get caught.” 

Theodore smiled in understanding. “So, it’s not that you didn’t like it, that’s good to know,” Theodore said a little smugly. 

“Kissing… is nice,” Draco admitted softly, giving Theodore a small smile. Even though it was only their second kiss, Draco was finding that he was really enjoying kissing his mate, and though he still didn’t think he would ever be ready to go further than that, he was already looking forward to the next time Theodore could kiss him without being caught. 

“Come on,” Theodore said, keeping hold of Draco’s hand as he started to lead them in the direction of the dining hall again. 

The two of them were rather surprised to see Harry and Blaise there already, given that most of the students were in lessons with their mentors. The only other ones in the room were the four youngest students, Nigel, Eleanor, Malcolm and Natalie, but they were across the other side of the room, talking among themselves.

“You finish your lesson early too?” Draco asked, as he dropped into the seat next to Harry, his friend turning to smile at him. 

“Firo seemed to think I was too tired to concentrate,” Harry said with a wry smile. 

“Yes, someone else was to tired to focus today as well,” Theodore said, looking toward Draco. 

“True I am tired, but Kire was just so BORING today,” Draco complained. “I wouldn’t have had any problem staying awake, if Kire hadn’t been just droning on and on and on,” Draco huffed, glancing toward Harry when the smaller boy giggled. 

“Was it really that bad?” Harry asked. 

“Worse,” Draco answered seriously, leaning into Theo’s side. 

“No, Harry, it wasn’t really that bad,” Theodore said, seeming amused by Draco’s over reaction. “Draco is just being dramatic.” 

Draco stared at Theodore in shock. “I’m not being dramatic! I swear they’re trying to kill us, death by boredom!” 

Theodore shook his head, leaning back in his seat, clearly giving up and letting Draco have his moment. The blond boy was far too tired, and as a result was in fact over dramatic about everything. It was sometimes amusing to watch Draco like this, but less amusing when Draco also got Harry riled up, which seemed to be what was happening now. 

Harry’s eyes widened as he heard Draco’s explanation about how he had fallen asleep twice in his lesson, and hadn’t remained there long enough to fall asleep a third time. Harry turned quickly to look at Blaise. “You have to save me!” Harry said. 

Blaise, who had been listening to the whole conversation, was already expecting something like this from Harry. “Save you from what? Bordom? You do both know that you can’t actually die from boredom,” Blaise pointed out. 

“How do you know?” Draco asked raising an eyebrow at him. “You’re not the one who nearly died today,” Draco said, then turned his attention toward Harry once more. 

“Do you think that Firo will try to teach us the same stuff this afternoon?” Harry asked, sounding worried by the prospect. Draco nodded sympathetically. “Blaise, you REALLY have to save me,” Harry implored, turning back to his mate once more. “Pretty please,” he added, his eyes wide and his lip pouted.

“I am sure we could find somewhere else to be,” Blaise said indulgently, laughing as Harry practically threw himself at him. 

“And you call me dramatic,” Draco said, sighing loudly and leaning against his mate once more, looking up at his mate with a grin. 

“You really are tired,” Theodore said with a fond laugh, wrapping his arm around Draco’s waist, “that’s the only possible explanation for how silly you’re being.”

“I can be silly when I’m not tired too,” Draco said. 

“You can be, but not usually,” Theodore pointed out. 

“Yeah!” Harry said grinning widely. “You're usually like this," Harry said making a face where his brow was creased, and his mouth was pulled into a deep frown.

Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry. "I thought you were leaving," he commented petulantly. This, however, just made Harry laugh. “Blaise, please find somewhere to take him,” Draco requested as he looked to Harry’s mate. 

“Gladly,” Blaise said and stood up, pulling Harry to his feet. “If we’re going to make our escape, it should be now, less chance of us being caught,” Blaise said keeping hold of Harry’s hand as he lead his small mate out of the dining hall. 

“Awww, but I was just getting started,” Harry said with a cheeky grin, looking up at his mate.

“Why do you provoke Draco?” Blaise asked with fond exasperation. “Isn’t he your best friend?”

“But he looks so cute when he gets all scowly,” Harry told him with mock seriousness. 

“Should I be jealous?” Blaise questioned teasingly, earning a glare from his mate that told him exactly how stupid that suggestion was. “Alright then,” Blaise said, chuckling softly as he held tighter to Harry’s hand. “Let’s start our game of hide and seek with the mentors.” 

\------------x

So far, Blaise and Harry had managed to avoid being caught for a little over two hours; though they had nearly been caught a couple times, as Firo was now out looking for them. Harry was grateful for Draco’s warning about a boring lecture. Lessons with Firo used to be fun, but recently they had been putting Harry to sleep, and today’s lesson, if what Draco had said was true, was going to turn out to be one of the worst. 

“Firo is going to be mad at us again,” Blaise said as he and Harry snuck down the hall, like they had done many times before. Skipping lessons had become something of a regular thing in the last few months, with the increasingly strict mentors and boring lessons. 

“He’ll just scold us, and give us a really big book to read again,” Harry said with a giggle as he and Blaise peaked around the next corner, making sure the coast was clear. Finding it empty, they hurried down that hallway, but as they neared the end of the hall, they heard footsteps coming their way. 

“In here,” Blaise said, and before Harry could reply, he was being pulled through a door that was just barely visible. The only reason Blaise had seen it was because the tapestry the door was hidden behind, seemed to have caught on the door handle. 

Blaise listened at the door as the footsteps passed by their hiding place. Harry stood back from the door, staying as still as he could until Blaise nodded that it was all clear. “Shall we go?” Blaise asked and Harry shook his head. 

“No, this is the perfect hiding place!” Harry said excitedly as he turned and looked around the room that seemed to be some sort of storage closet. It wasn’t very big, but there were papers and scrolls tucked neatly along the shelves along one side of the room, the rest of the space mostly filled by boxes. 

“Is it?” Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked around the room. “I give you five minutes before you’re bored and want to find somewhere else to hide,” Blaise said with a smirk as Harry turned to look at him. 

“I won’t get bored, and even if I do, this has to be less boring than that lecture Draco warned us about,” Harry said with a smile as he turned back around to look around the room once more. Arms wrapped around him from behind and Harry turned his head to grin at Blaise. “Besides, I get to be alone with you, there’s nothing boring about that.” 

“That is true,” Blaise conceded, tightening his arms around Harry. “We really don’t have time to just sit together any more. Even in our lessons, Firo won’t let me hold you like before,” Blaise sighed. It made Harry extremely happy to know that it wasn’t just him having a difficult time with the new rules. While Firo was still one of the more lenient mentors, he was a lot more strict than he used to be. Though Harry understood the reasoning behind it, it didn’t make it any less difficult. 

“I always feel the best when I’m with you,” Harry said turning around in his mate’s arms, so that he could look up at Blaise. “When I’m close to you, it’s like everything else is blocked out, and I can focus on just you,” Harry said, he smiled up at Blaise before resting his head on his mate’s chest. 

Harry could feel himself relaxing as he listened to Blaise’s heartbeat, the warm feeling of Blaise’s arms around him, the heartbeat thumping gently under his ear made Harry feel calm. Things had been changing a lot in the past few months, and it had been stressful for everyone, not just the other kids, but the mentors as well. 

“I love being close to you too,” Blaise assured him, holding Harry close and running his fingers through his mate’s hair. Harry let out a contented sigh, closing his eyes and just staying there silent for a few moments. 

“Blaise,” Harry spoke softly, keeping his head rested against Blaise’s chest, “do you think I’m too young?” 

“Too young?” Blaise frowned in confusion, looking down at Harry. 

“To do stuff with you. I mean, like… kissing?” Harry asked, pulling back slightly so that he could look up at his mate. 

“You’re basically the same age as Draco,” Blaise pointed out, though he understood what Harry was saying. “Do you want to do stuff with me? Like kissing?” he asked, unable to keep the hopefulness from his voice. He definitely wanted to kiss his mate, properly, like he had seen their friends doing, but he would wait as long as Harry wanted. “Do you think you’re too young?”

Harry shook his head vigorously. “No, but Draco thinks I am,” Harry said with a small pout. “And I really want to kiss you,” Harry added, a light blush coloring his cheeks. 

“Then I am happy to oblige,” Blaise said, a smirk on his face as he leaned down a gentle pressed his lips to Harry’s.

Harry let out a soft gasp of surprise, not having expected his mate to actually kiss him now. It only lasted a few seconds, but when Blaise pulled back, both of them were wearing dopey grins. 

“That okay?” Blaise asked cautiously. Harry, however, nodded enthusiastically. “You okay for me to do that again?” 

Blaise had barely finished his question when Harry’s hand wrapped around the front of his tunic. He let out a small yelp of surprise as his petite mate pulled him down and pressed their lips together again, this time a little more firmly. It was all the encouragement that Blaise needed and he threw himself into the kiss, his fingers threading into Harry’s hair as he kissed his mate properly.

Harry felt light headed as he held onto Blaise. He was having a difficult time trying to figure out if it was his own emotions and feelings that were this strong, or if he was picking up on what Blaise was feeling. Though as they continued kissing, Harry decided he didn’t actually care, moving his hands from Blaise’s tunic, he wrapped them tightly around his mate’s neck leaning up further to press against him. 

Blaise made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded close to a growl, without breaking their embrace he walked Harry backwards, until he was up against wall, their bodies pressing together more firmly. Encouraged by his small mate’s enthusiasm, Blaise’s hands moved from Harry’s hair, down his neck and chest, feeling his mate’s body heat through the silky fabric, before they settled on Harry’s hips. Blaise bit down on Harry’s lower lip, one hand moving lower down Harry’s leg lifting him off the floor forcing Harry to wrap his legs around Blaise’s waist. Blaise pressed his hips firmly against Harry, groaning softly at the feeling of being so close to his mate. 

Blaise was dimly aware of the fact that they should stop, that they shouldn’t continue. Kissing was one thing, but this was moving quickly past just kissing. However, as he moved his hips slowly against Harry, and heard the moan from the smaller boy, and the way Harry’s fingers scratched at the back of his neck, Blaise knew that he couldn’t stop now. Biting down harder on Harry’s lip, he pushed his tongue into the welcoming mouth. Harry, however, made a muffled sound, pushing lightly at Blaise's shoulder. The tan boy pulled away reluctantly.

"What? Did I hurt you?" Blaise asked, breathless, but concerned that Harry hadn't been enjoying the kiss as much as Blaise thought he was.

"No,” Harry shook his head, his cheeks flushed. He, too, seemed rather breathless, “something fell," Harry said, turning his head to try and see what had hit against his arm. It became quickly apparent that it was the folder of papers, which was now scattered on the floor by Blaise’s feet.

"Something..." Blaise trailed off also looking down. He shook his head, letting out a small chuckle, though he looked more exasperated than amused. "Only YOU could get distracted from your first real kiss, when I have you pinned against a wall, by something randomly falling," Blaise said, but Harry was already wiggling out of his grasp to investigate the papers on the floor. 

Blaise considered keeping Harry pinned against the wall, knowing he could easily make Harry forget about the papers. However, the distraction, though annoying, was a welcome one, because Blaise knew any longer and today would have been full of a lot of ‘firsts’ for Harry, for both of them, if they had continued. So Blaise watched as Harry knelt on the floor to investigate the folder. Blaise remained standing, leaning against the wall.

Blaise was debating on going off and leaving Harry to his exploring, since their little kiss had left him with a rather uncomfortable problem. Blaise had never envied Harry’s loose fitting clothes until now, while his own clothes were not skin tight, they made it impossible to hide his issue. To make things slightly worse, every slight movement he made was a near constant reminder that he had had Harry pinned against this wall moments before. 

Letting out a sigh, Blaise looked at his mate still sitting on the floor. “Anything interesting?” Blaise asked, as Harry opened the folder and started reading. Harry didn’t answer, he just knelt on the floor in silence, his focus was completely on the papers that he had clutched in his hand. “Harry?” Blaise frowned, pushing away from the wall, worried about his mate’s lack of response. 

“What does this mean?” Harry asked suddenly, turning toward Blaise and holding out the paper from the folder. Blaise was alarmed to see Harry’s green eyes shining with unshed tears, and the hand holding the paper was shaking. Taking the paper from Harry, the tan boy watched him for a second longer before looking down at the paper that Harry had handed him. 

Blaise scanned the paper, his eyes narrowing the more he read. “Harry, this is…” 

“It’s about Adrien isn’t it?” Harry didn’t really have to ask, he had read the paper already. The tears he had been holding back, slowly slid down his cheeks. Blaise knelt down and pulled Harry close to him. “It… it says... Blaise, Adrien is with the others isn’t he? He’s with Cedric, Cho, Lee and Angelina, right?” Harry asked. 

Blaise looked back down at the paper once more. The full detailed information about the boy that was only a couple years older than them. It listed his age, that his mate was Lee, it stated that Adrien was a male, with the genetic structure of a female. But there was more information than that. It listed who Adrien’s parents were, a witch and a wizard, it stated how old Adrien was when he had been brought to the fae city, along with the date of Adrien’s death. 

“I don’t think he’s with them any more, Harry,” Blaise said, setting the paper down so he could wrap both arms around Harry and hold him close. However, Blaise was shocked when his mate pushed his arms away almost angrily. Blaise watched as Harry started pulling more files down from the shelves, opening a file and looking through it before tossing it to the floor to join the others. 

“Harry, what are you-?”

“These are about us!” Harry shouted. “Every file here! Look, here’s Cedric’s,” Harry said, waving a file at Blaise, but didn’t let his mate take it as he read a paragraph from the first page. “Child removed from home, twenty-fourth of October 1978. Father, Amos Diggory, only parent home at time of retrieval.” Harry threw the folder toward Blaise before pulling down another and continuing on. 

“Harry, stop this,” Blaise said, getting to his feet and pulling the next file from Harry’s hand. “I get that you’re upset, and I will admit, this is more than a little shocking, but please, slow down,” Blaise said, closing the file that he had taken away from Harry. 

“They took us!” Harry shouted. “We have parents!”

“Harry, I know, now shh,” Blaise said. Waving his hand at the mess that Harry had made on the floor, he watched as all the files righted themselves, and restacked on the shelves. “We’ve been missing for hours now, we should head back,” Blaise said putting a finger over Harry’s lips when his small mate went to speak. “We will discuss this with the others, quietly. We were obviously not meant to find these files, if we get caught in here now we could be in serious trouble,” Blaise pointed out, putting his hands on Harry’s shoulders and gently steering him toward the door. 

“But, I want to find our files,” Harry said, a little more calmly than he had been speaking before. 

“We can always come back at a later time,” Blaise said, closing the door behind them. “But that requires us not to get caught this time,” he pointed out as he took a moment to make sure the door was once again hidden behind the tapestry. “Let’s go find the others, it’s getting close to dinner time now,” Blaise suggested.

Harry sighed, but nodded his agreement and Blaise wrapped an around around him, as he led Harry down the hall and away from that door. Blaise’s main focus was to get Harry back to Draco, and have the blond boy stay with Harry while he took Theodore off so the two of them could speak about what he and Harry had found. Blaise didn’t know what they were going to do with the information, but he knew that their lives were going to be changed from now on. 

TBC

We had so much fun writing this chapter! See you all in three weeks for the next update!


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again! Thank you to Emily for beta reading this for us!  
> and our apologies for the slight delay on the release of this chapter, but real life was busy for both of us over the weekend.  
> Also you might want to check out (if you haven't already) the first of the side stories for the Restoration of Magic Universe. We are calling them "Restoration of Magic: Fairy Tales"

Chapter 7

16th December 1995

“Harry! Slow down!” Draco shouted as he hurried to keep up with his friend. Harry, however, just  
ignored him and continued at his quick pace through the corridors. Growling in frustration, Draco moved faster. Reaching out and grabbing Harry’s arm, he pulled his friend to a stop. “Harry, where are we going?” Draco demanded.

“I’m going to see Alais,” Harry snapped. Draco was taken aback by the obvious anger in Harry’s voice. He had seen Harry upset quite a few times, usually over stupid or silly things, but Draco honestly could not remember Harry ever being truly angry before, not like this, and the blond boy found it a little frightening. Harry pulled his arm away from Draco and continued on his way, heading straight out the front door.

“Harry, wait!” Draco called out, running to catch up to Harry again. “Harry, what is going on with you?” he asked urgently, keeping pace with his friend, as Harry headed out into the city. “You’ll get us into trouble!”

“Then go back, Draco,” Harry told him stubbornly.

“I’m not leaving you like this,” Draco said. “I’ve never seen you this angry, Harry. What happened?” Draco asked, but Harry didn’t seem to want to answer as the smaller boy continued walking. Huffing in annoyance, Draco continued keeping pace with Harry, looking around as they hurried along. Harry didn’t say anything, and Draco stopped asking questions, deciding that he would most likely get his answers when they reached their destination.

It had been more than a year since Draco had last followed Harry to Alais’ house, but the route through the city was familiar. He was mostly just thankful that the city was quiet and that they didn’t meet anyone on their way, but he still hung back a little, keeping an eye out as Harry hurried up to Alais’ door to knock..

Harry knocked louder on the door when it wasn’t immediately opened, and Draco frowned, moving up a couple steps. “Maybe she’s not home?” Draco suggested.

“If she’s not home, I’ll just wait inside for her,” Harry insisted, not looking back at his friend as he knocked even louder. The door swung open on his second knock, only it wasn’t Alais who had opened it.

“You make a lot of noise for someone so small,” Rosario said, looking down at Harry, who had taken half a step back.

“Where’s Alais?” Harry demanded.

“Harry!” Draco snapped, shocked at his friend's tone of voice, and obvious disrespect for someone on the high council. He looked back to Rosario. “Sorry, Harry seems to have temporarily lost his mind. I’ll just… I’ll take him home now,” Draco said, walking up the last couple steps to grab Harry’s arm and start pulling him away.

“No!” Harry shouted, ripping his arm away from Draco. “I’m not leaving until I see Alais!”

“Then I suppose the pair of you better come in and explain yourselves,” Rosario said, seeming torn between amusement and annoyance. Harry didn’t wait, and just walked passed Rosario, leaving Draco to stand on the front steps staring after him. “You too,” Rosario said, when Draco didn’t move to follow.

Draco moved slowly passed Rosario, moving to stand next to Harry as his smaller friend looked around. “Where is Alais?” Harry asked, turning to face Rosario again, not seeming to care that the Council Elder had closed and locked the door behind them. Rosario didn’t answer, just looked at a spot behind both the boys.

“He is was very insistent that he see you,” Rosario said. Harry turned back around quickly, looking at the doorway that lead to the kitchen where Alais was now standing.

Harry went to hurry towards her, his instinct to rush to Alais for comfort. However, the memory of the files, of Adrien’s file declaring him dead, of the truth about their origins, stopped him in his steps. He stood there for a moment, staring at her, not really sure what to do with himself, or what to say now that they were face-to-face.

“Harry,” Alais moved forward, most likely to hold him, but Harry retreated the few steps that he had taken; this action caused Alais to also pause. Harry opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but he closed it again and continued to stare at her.

“I want answers,” Harry finally said. “What really happened to Cedric and the others who ran away? Where is Adrien?” Harry demanded to know. His question seemed to shock the other three people in the room.

“I think, perhaps it would be best if we all sat down,” Rosario said calmly, and Harry turned to glare at her.

“No, I’m not sitting down. I want answers! What happened to Adrien?” Harry asked angrily.

“You seem to already know what happened to him,” Rosario answered, though not unkindly. “And I suspect that you have more questions that you want answered.” Harry scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “Then I suggest we sit down,” she repeated, gesturing towards Alais’ living room.

“Harry,” Draco quietly implored, tugging on his friend’s arm to get his attention. He wanted to know about what had happened to Cedric, Adrien and the others, but he didn’t want him and Harry to get into even more trouble by defying one of the Council Elders; besides, it sounded as though Rosario was prepared to at least give them some answers if they would just sit down with her.

“Come on, both of you,” Alais said, as she approached them, “let’s all go and sit down.” She put her hands on Harry and Draco’s backs, pushing them gently towards the living room, though Harry rolled his shoulder and shrugged her off. And when Harry sat down, he made sure that he was right next to the arm of the settee and he pulled Draco down to sit on the other side of him.

Alais tried not to look too hurt by Harry’s actions, reminding herself that this was likely for the best given Itham’s plans, and so she took a seat in a chair across from the two boys. Rosario meanwhile, sat at the other end of the settee, watching Harry and Draco curiously.

“Now will you give us answers?” Harry asked impatiently.

“Yes,” Rosario said. “You want to know what happened to Adrien,” she said, and Harry nodded in confirmation. “If we tell you, I expect you to tell us how you found out,” Rosario said, fixing Harry with a stern look. The small boy frowned, but nodded slowly, deciding that it would be a fair trade.

“You know that Adrien left with Cedric, Lee, Angelia and Cho,” Alais said, and both Harry and Draco nodded in confirmation. “Well Cedric, Lee, Angelina and Cho were all found quickly, trying to leave the city. Adrien wasn’t with them.”

“Where was he?” Harry asked, gripping tightly onto Draco’s hand. He knew where this story ended, but he felt a desperate need to know what had happened to Adrien.

“Truthfully, we are not certain,” Rosario admitted. “They had all become separated by the time we located any of them. But Adrien made it further than the others and despite all our efforts, we were unable to find him in time.”

“He’s… dead?” Draco asked disbelievingly, turning to Harry, since it seemed that the smaller boy had already known this, given how he had asked about Adrien directly. The expression on his friend’s face told him the truth of it. “What happened to him? What do you mean you didn’t get there in time?” he asked as he turned to Rosario.

“I am sorry to say, Adrien is deceased,” the Elder told him, her voice soft and apologetic. “We did all we could, but he wasn’t found until the next morning. We all wish he could have been found sooner, but he had an accident, and was badly hurt. Now why don’t you tell me how you found out that something had happened to Adrien,” she said, fixing Harry with an expectant gaze.

“That’s it?” Draco asked, staring at Rosario. “You just found him, and he was already dead?”

“All we know is that he must have fallen and hit his head, added to the fact that nights around here can be chilly, even in the summer, it is not the best environment if you do not know how to survive in the wilderness,” Rosario said, knowing that both boys had the right to be angry about this, after all Adrien’s death had been kept secret for them for months. “I would still like to know how you came across this information, Harry,” Rosario said, turning her attention back to the smaller boy.

“I… I read it,” Harry admitted softly. “I read a lot of things actually.” Harry gave Rosario and Alais an accusing look.

“What else do you know, child?” Rosario asked, fixing Harry with a stern look that had the smaller boy shrinking back in his seat a little bit, but Harry didn’t break eye contact with her.

“I know that we have parents,” Harry stated simply, all but daring Alais or Rosairo to deny it..

“Not this again.” Draco sighed in exasperation, and Harry glared at his blond friend.

“It’s true! I saw it! There were files on each of us, on where we came from. We have parents! They,” Harry said, pointing at Alais and Rosario, “took us from our parents, and brought us here! They STOLE us, Draco!”

“Harry, who else have to you told about this?” Alais asked, sounding worried.

“No one,” Harry said petulantly. “Though I bet Blaise has told Theo by now,” he added a little smugly. “And see, Draco, they don’t even bother to deny it.”

“Why would we deny something, that we have always planned on telling you children anyway?” Rosario said, she was still sitting there calmly watching Harry. “We have always intended for you to return back to the wizarding world when you were old enough, so that you chosen few can return it back to its true glory.”

“So no pressure then,” Draco said sarcastically, a frown on his face.

“Please realise that you were not to be told any of this, until you were much older,” Rosario pointed out. “However, as you have discovered the truth on your own, we have no reason to hide it from you.”

“Then why hide it from us to begin with?” Draco asked.

“Originally it was because we did not want you leaving the city, not before you were ready to face what is in the world out there,” Rosario said.

“Your lessons right now, they should have started covering the history of the Wizarding world,” Alais said, waiting as Harry and Draco nodded their head. “That is because we do not want you to make the same mistakes that past witches and wizards have made. They were corrupted by the power of magic, and the people of the world today don’t even know that they’re doing anything wrong,” Alais pointed out.

“So, you took us from our parents… so we could learn how to use magic properly?” Harry asked, frowning as he tried to wrap his head around everything he was learning today.

“That is part of the reason. We want to teach you, so that when you do return to your own world, you can also teach people there, and start to fix the corruption that has spread across the magical world,” Alais explained.

“Like I said, no pressure,” Draco huffed, leaning back in his seat. Rosario gave the blond boy a small smile.

“Keep up with that attitude of yours, and I believe neither of you will have a problem with this task,” Rosario said.

Draco blinked at her before looking over at Harry. “Was that supposed to be a compliment?” The smaller boy shrugged his shoulders.

“Maybe… encouragement?” Harry suggested.

“My attitude isn’t that bad though,” Draco pointed out. Harry snorted in amusement at Draco’s statement, earning a glare from his blond friend. “What’s so funny?”

“Draco, you always have an attitude,” Harry said giggling and ducking off the settee when Draco raised his hand to hit him, both boys paused when Rosario cleared her throat loudly. “Oh… sorry,” Harry said, settling himself back on the settee as the smile faded from his face once more.

“It’s okay, Harry,” Alais said, giving him a small smile, though she wasn’t surprised when he didn’t smile back. “Was there anything else you needed to know?” she asked, looking from Harry to Draco and back again. Both boys exchanged a look, before Harry shook his head.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said.

“Harry, it’s getting late, we should probably go back. Blaise and Theo are going to be really worried,” Draco pointed out. Standing from his seat, he looked back at Rosario and Alais. “Um… are we going to be in trouble for coming here?” he asked.

Rosario gave Draco a reassuring smile. “No, child, neither of you are going to be in trouble. It is good that you came here to get this information, but I do agree, it is time that you two should leave,” she said, locking eyes with Harry for a moment after she said this. She watched his green eyes widen slightly before the small boy jumped up from his own seat.

“Let’s go, Draco,” Harry insisted suddenly, grabbing the blond by the arm and pulling him quickly toward the door.

“I would suggest staying off the main streets; you will be less likely to be caught if you take the back way around,” Rosario called out just before Harry and Draco disappeared out the front door.

“Harry,” Draco whined, pulling on his friend’s hand to get him to slow down, “Harry… hold up.”

“No, we need to talk to Blaise and Theo,” Harry told him emphatically. “We need to make a plan.”

“A plan for what?” Draco asked in confusion.

“To leave. We have to leave, Draco,” Harry said, sounding almost frantic as he continued pulling Draco along, using the back way like Rosario instructed them to.

“We what?!” Draco almost shouted, but Harry shushed him.

“If we get caught now, we’re going to be in trouble, Draco. I’ll explain when we find Blaise and Theo,” Harry promised.

Draco reluctantly fell silent, knowing that Harry was right, if they were too loud now, being out this late, they were going to be in serious trouble. So Draco allowed Harry to lead him back to them back to the school, determined that he would get answers from Harry once they were safely inside once again.

\---------------x

Theodore followed Blaise in silent confusion as his friend led him through the corridors of their home. Despite the fact that Theodore had asked his friend what was going on, Blaise had refused to explain anything, only that there was something important that they had to talk about. Harry had been left with Draco in the dining hall, and Theodore had shared a confused look with his mate before he went along with Blaise’s request, as strange as it was.

Theodore raised an eyebrow at Blaise when they came to a stop in front of a tapestry, checking that no one else around before pulling it aside and revealing a door.

“Quick, inside,” Blaise said, as he opened it. Theodore frowned at him, curiosity outweighing his confusion, he ducked inside the hidden room.

“What is this place?” Theodore asked, as he looked around. He turned back to his friend when he heard Blaise closing the door behind them, shutting them in. “A file room?” he asked, taking in the sight of the files and boxes that filled the room. “Blaise, what is going on?” Theodore asked, deciding that it was time that his friend start talking.

“We found this place earlier, Harry and I,” Blaise told him, going over to the shelf that held the files Harry had pulled down earlier. “We were just looking for somewhere to hide, for a little time alone,” he added with a suggestive smirk.

Theodore raised an eyebrow in surprise at the implication. “And you felt the need to bring me to the scene of your crimes to tell me about your first kiss?” he asked teasingly.

Blaise laughed. “Not exactly.”

“So you didn’t kiss him?” Theodore asked curiously, not really following what was going on or what they were doing there.

“Oh, no, I definitely did,” Blaise told him with a full broad grin now, “and it was great; nearly became more than kissing honestly,” Blaise admitted, and couldn’t help the smug smirk at the look Theodore gave him. “But that’s not why I brought you here. When we were kissing, we knocked this shelf,” he explained, reaching up to run his hand over the edge of the files, before pulling one out at random.

“Really, Blaise, just because you witnessed my first kiss with Draco, I do not need the exact details of yours,” Theodore said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Blaise shook his head and turned to fix his friend with a stern glare. “I told you, it’s not about that, now shut up and listen.” Blaise sighed, holding up the folder he had taken off the shelf. “Some of these fell down, and Harry got distracted by reading a few.”

“What are they?” Theodore asked, taking the one that Blaise held out for him. Blaise, however, didn’t say anything, waiting to see what conclusions Theodore would come to on his own. “This is… it’s all about Cassius,” he said, as he flipped to the next page, staring at it with shocked confusion.

“I think there is one here for each of us,” Blaise said, as he pulled down another file, one from next to where he had taken Cassius’ from, and flipped it open. It belonged to Cassius’ mate, Charity, and so he discarded it, moving further along the shelf and removing another that turned out to be Cormac’s. “Think these are in some kind of order,” he said as he put it aside with Charity’s.

“Then we should try to find our own,” Theodore suggested, putting Cassius’ file with Charity and Cormac’s, before taking another from a little further along still. “This is Ron’s,” he said, holding it out for Blaise to see. “Ron Weasley, born 1st March 1980 to Molly and Arthur Weasley and... blimey, he apparently has five brothers. All their names are here!”

“Let me see that,” Blaise said, pulling the file from Theo’s hand before the other boy had finished reading it. Blaise let out a whistle and handed the file back to Theo. “I hardly put any thought into the idea of us having parents, the idea that we might have even bigger families out there… I’m kind of glad Harry didn’t see these files, he’d be running away from the city tonight,” Blaise said.

“You’re saying he’s not ready to run away now? He’s been talking Draco’s ear off with just the IDEA that we have parents. These files confirm that Harry was right all along,” Theodore pointed out, he set aside Ron’s file and grabbed the next one off the same shelf. “Look, this one is Neville’s.”

“Does he have brothers too?” Blaise asked eagerly, wanting to know everything now that they were getting some answers.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Theodore said with a shake of his head. “Only child. Mother, Alice Longbottom in home when taken,” he started reading. “Says here there was a complication though.” Blaise snatched that file from Theodore too. “Seriously, Blaise?” Theodore said in exasperation.

“Shh, I’m reading,” Blaise said dismissively. “Alice Longbottom interrupted the removal, memory and compulsion spells used to keep her from speaking of what she witnessed. Security risk, low. This is all rather disturbing, Theo. They have gone to such lengths to bring us here, and for what?”

“No idea,” Theodore said, already taking the next file while Blaise was occupied, replicating it with a subtle wave of his hand and putting the copy to one side. His face broke out into a grin when he realised whose file he was holding. “This one’s yours,” he told his friend. As expected, Blaise snatched that file from him as well. Theo, however, simply turned and pulled another one from the shelf as the file Blaise was now holding went up in flames.

Theodore smirked as Blaise let out a yell, dropping the file and putting the fire out. “Theo, no! I needed to see that!” Blaise exclaimed, staring at the smoldering pile of ash by his feet.

“You should know by now not to grab things from me,” Theodore said calmly, flipping through the file in his hand.

“But that was MY file, Theo!” Blaise all but shouted, actually stamping his foot. “That was the only clue we had to who my family is, where I came from, even what my full name is,” he pointed out, actually sounding sad now.

“Your name is Blaise Zabini,” Theodore said, still just as calm as he had been. “Born 12th April 1980 to Elladora Zabini, father unconfirmed. Removed from home April 1981,” Theodore said, closing the folder and handing it to Blaise.

“I hate you,” Blaise muttered as he took the file, though there wasn’t really any heat to his words, and Theodore just smiled at him indulgently. “What do you think it means by father unconfirmed? Do they not know who my mother’s mate is?” he asked, sounding confused.

“Maybe if we get out of here one day, you can find your mother and ask her that yourself,” Theodore suggested, his attention already back on the other files. He pulled down several more, the first of which turned out to be Hannah’s, but the next one was his own. “Theodore Nott,” he said, testing out the sound of his own name.

“There’s so much here,” Blaise said, as he pulled down the next few files, finding Pansy’s and then Draco’s. “Maybe we use that clever trick of yours and make copies, and read this properly later,” he suggested. “The last thing we need now is to be caught here.”

“You’re right,” Theodore said as he stacked his own file on top of the two that Blaise was already holding, and taking down another, smiling when he found it to be Harry’s. “We have yours, mine, Ron’s, Harry’s, Neville’s…”

“The two I had were Pansy and Draco’s,” Blaise told him. “Is there anyone else’s that we want to take with us?” Blaise asked looking back at the shelf.

“Probably shouldn’t take too many,” Theodore said, grabbing the last couple of files on the shelf, taking a quick look inside to confirm that they were in fact Hannah, Susan and Terry’s files, before adding them to the stack. “We can start with these, and come back for more later.”

Blaise nodded his agreement. The two of them made sure that there were copies of each file before carefully putting the originals all back where they found them, not wanting anyone to know they had been there. They shrunk the copies they had taken, putting them in their pockets where they wouldn’t be seen, and left the room.

\-------------x

“Can’t you walk any faster, Rosario?” Alais asked, turning her head to look at the High Council member once again.

“Does it really matter how fast or slow I walk?” Rosario asked, raising an eyebrow at the younger member. She maintained her current pace as they strolled through the city, and she resisted the urge to smile at how impatient Alais was.

“Yes! We need to talk to Itham now!” Alais insisted, hurrying along even faster. They were almost at their destination, and she figured that Rosario would catch up with her. Alais all but ran up the steps of the secondary home, that had been built in the wake of some of the children trying to leave the city.

Itham had spent a lot of time here over the past few months, Alais knew it was because he didn’t trust Arnaldo and Tinasia with the care of the runaway children. So Itham had taken it upon himself to make sure that Cedric, Angelina, Lee, and Cho were not abandoned. And because of this, Itham was usually at the secondary home late into the night.

“Alais?” she heard Itham say, and she turned to smile at him down the corridor. “What are you doing here?” Itham asked. He seemed rather happy to see her as he made his way over toward the younger council member, not noticing Rosario walking up the steps at first.

“Am I interrupting?” Rosario asked, looking pointedly between the pair of them, noting how close to each other Itham and Alais were standing. It wasn’t the first time that she had suspected that there was something more between the two than just their plans to help the wizarding children.

“And Rosario too,” Itham said, turning to look at his fellow High Council member.

“Don’t be daft,” Alais said dismissively, sparing Rosario only a glance before turning back to Itham. “I came to tell you about a rather unexpected visit I had from Harry and Draco earlier this evening.”

“Really?” Itham asked, surprised that Harry would risk further punishment, or that Draco would go along with him. “Were they okay?”

“Harry was furious,” Rosario told him, smiling fondly as she thought of the young boy with such a fiery temper. “It seems that he and Blaise made a discovery today, which included Adrien’s file.”

Itham gave her a crooked, knowing smile. “I can’t imagine how that happened,” he said, barely even bothering to put up a pretense of surprise. “I suppose they were keen to know more about where they came from? About why they had been lied to?”

“They weren’t lied to; we simply withheld some details” Rosario said with a disapproving frown. Alais and Itham shared an exasperated look but said nothing. “But yes,” Rosario went on, “Harry was determined to get answers, particularly about what happened to Adrien. And the other four,” she added, glancing upwards, knowing that the children in question would be there.

“Maybe we should move this conversation down the hall,” Itham suggested, “I don’t want the children overhearing this. They are safe here for the moment, and I would like to keep it that way.”

“Lead the way,” Rosario said, and Itham did exactly that. He took them into a living room area, and the three of them took seats, Alais right next to Itham on the largest of the sofas.

“So tell me how things went with Harry and Draco,” Itham encouraged, hoping that their efforts would mean that Harry, Blaise and maybe some of the others would be ready to leave the city soon.

\-------------x

_19th December 1995_

Pansy knew her friends were keeping secrets. Over the past few days, Harry and Draco, along with their two mates, had been acting really strange. She had of course tried to ask them about it, but it was brushed off by Blaise as ‘nothing important’. However, the looks that both Draco and Harry had given the tan boy at that comment had suggested otherwise. Because for once in his life, Harry was not in a talkative mood, Pansy was forced to find out their secret the hard way, by losing sleep so she could stay up and hear if Draco and Harry talked about anything during the night.

While Pansy had not found out anything yet, she had discovered that Harry seemed to have gone back to his old tendency to sneak out at night. This had happened for three nights in a row, and Pansy was ready to forget the whole secret, assuming that Draco and the others were just covering for Harry sneaking off to visit Alais again. That was until the previous night, when she had seen Blaise escorting Harry back into their dorm room, and had even witnessed the two share a heated kiss before Blaise had left Harry and gone to get some more sleep. It had taken all of Pansy’s will power not to bombard her usually talkative friend with questions right then and there.

Pansy had laid awake most of the night after that, deciding on her best course of action. Asking them outright wasn’t an option, staying awake waiting for something to happen had proved not only boring, but all she knew was that Blaise had brought Harry back to their room. This meant the only logical thing to do was to follow Harry when he left the room the next night. So now, she was lying in bed, pretending to sleep, waiting for Harry to move.

It took a frustratingly long time in Pansy’s opinion, though she knew that it was mostly because she had a plan for tonight. But eventually there was a sound of movement, and when she looked over towards Harry’s bed, sure enough, he was slipping out from under his covers and getting to his feet.

She kept herself very still and quiet, not wanting to give herself away, but as Harry slowly meandered his way out of their dorm, she crawled out of her own bed. Pansy hurried to Draco’s bed, and shook her friend awake.

“Wha…?” Draco muttered, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. He looked up and caught sight of Pansy leaning over him, letting out a groan Draco closed his eyes again. “What do you want?” He asked, hoping she would tell him quickly so he could go back to sleep.

“Harry’s gone,” Pansy whispered. It was as if someone had dumped cold water over Draco because in the next second those silver eyes had snapped open and the blond had sat up in bed so fast that he nearly collided with Pansy.

“Where is he?” Draco asked, once he saw Harry’s empty bed for himself.

“If you get up quickly, we can still catch him,” Pansy said, pointing to the still open door.

“If you saw him leave, why didn’t you stop him!” Draco hissed quickly, irritated with his smirking friend. He pushed her aside as he got out of bed and headed toward the door.

“Because then I wouldn’t be able to follow him and figure out what you boys have been up to,” Pansy told him bluntly. Draco sighed wearily as Pansy linked her arm through his as she all but dragged him into the corridor. “Come on,” she said in a whisper, the two of them sticking close to the wall as they headed after Harry, who they could see up ahead.

“Couldn’t you have just asked us,” Draco grumbled under his breath, “preferably when it wasn’t the middle of the night.”

Pansy, however, ignored his comment, her focus on not losing track of Harry. “Where are you going, Harry?” she asked in a rhetorical whisper. Draco rolled his eyes at how ridiculous Pansy was being, and pulled his arm away from hers. Feeling far too tired and wanting to go back to bed, instead of playing Pansy’s stupid games, Draco ran ahead of her before she could grab him again.

“Harry, wait up,” Draco said, attempting to keep his voice as quiet as possible, but still be loud enough that he was sure Harry would be able to hear him. “Harry,” Draco called again as he reached his friend's side.

Pansy sighed and hurried so she could catch up with Draco and Harry. “So much for following him,” she huffed in frustration, wondering if she would have just left Draco asleep and gone by herself.

“Harry, where are you going?” Draco asked, ignoring Pansy’s complaining. Harry didn’t even look at Draco as he continued walking. Draco and Pansy exchanged a concerned look at Harry’s lack of response. “Harry, where are we going?” Draco asked again.

“So you don’t actually know where he’s going either?” Pansy asked.

“Why would I know where Harry goes in the middle of the night?” Draco shot back, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Well, you, Harry, Theo and Blaise are all hiding something from me, and since Harry’s been sneaking out of the room for the past three nights, I thought you were all just covering for him so he could go see Alais again,” Pansy explained.

“I wouldn’t cover for Harry, not when there is the chance he could get into serious trouble again,” Draco snapped, turning his attention back to Harry. “Harry, where are we going?” Draco asked once more, sounding more demanding than the last two times he had asked.

“Leave… we have to leave…” Harry mumbled.

“Leave? Leave where?” Pansy asked, but Harry was silent once again, apparently determined to get to whatever destination he had set in his mind. Sighing, Pansy looked around, trying to get some idea of where Harry was going. “I think he’s going to see Blaise,” Pansy said.

“Why would Harry go see Blaise in the middle of the night?” Draco asked, sounding horrified at the very thought that Harry was sneaking into the boy's rooms at night.

“Well, I saw Blaise bring Harry back to bed last night,” Pansy said dismissively.

“And you thought that NOW was the best time to mention this?” Draco sighed. “Come on, Harry, let’s go back to bed; you can see Blaise in the morning.” Draco reached out and grabbed Harry’s arm, determined to get his friend back to bed, and get answers out of him in the morning. What he wasn’t expecting was for Harry to react as violently as he did. The smaller boy spun and hit Draco as hard as he could, pulling his arm away with a scream that echoed through the corridor.

“Harry!” Pansy exclaimed in shock. Harry was not the type to hurt anyone, let alone Draco. “You okay, Draco?” she asked, as Harry headed off towards Blaise’s dorm once more.

“I’ll live,” Draco assured her, rubbing at his sore shoulder, sure that he was going to have a bruise there tomorrow. “Pretty certain Harry is sleepwalking,” he commented, as he and Pansy followed after Harry once more. It was something that a few of them, including Harry, had done as children, but as far as Draco knew, none of them had been sleepwalking in years. Until now.

“You think,” Pansy said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “And here I was thinking that Harry made a habit of hitting you.”

Draco threw her a glare, but said nothing and soon they found themselves, as expected, outside their mates’ dormitory. Pansy went to follow Harry inside but Draco grabbed her by the arm. “We can’t go in there,” he said in a horrified whisper.

“Harry did,” Pansy pointed out. “Besides, what do you want us to do, just stand here and wait? You can’t tell me you aren’t curious about what Harry is up to, and what all that leaving stuff he said was about.”

Draco huffed. He already had a pretty good idea what Harry meant by leaving, but he was admittedly curious about why Harry was sneaking into the boy’s dorm, even if it was in his sleep. Pansy stood there, watching Draco for a moment longer, before shrugging out of Draco’s grip and going into the room. She glanced over her shoulder at Draco, letting out a soft giggle at the horrified look Draco was now giving her.

“Well, are you coming or not?” she asked in a hushed voice, going further into the room. Draco grumbled quietly to himself, moving to stand just inside the doorway, determined not to go in any further. Pansy, however, didn’t seem to mind as she wandered further inside. Harry was making his way over to Blaise’s bed, the tan boy seemingly sound asleep, as were the rest of the boys.

“Harry,” Draco hissed, afraid that his friend was going to wake Blaise and the others up. But Harry ignored him, kneeling on the floor next to Blaise’s bed and starting crawling underneath it.

“What is he doing?” Pansy asked, looking back at Draco.

“Why are you looking at me? I have no idea what goes through his mind when he’s awake, let alone when he’s asleep!” Draco growled, turning his attention back to the bed that Harry was currently under. Blaise was rolling over, slowly blinking open violet eyes, before rolling over even further so that he could see Harry’s legs hanging out from under the bed.

“Really Harry… again?” Blaise sighed. He slid out of bed and knelt on the floor so he could see his mate. “I moved them, Harry,” Blaise said, seeming not to have noticed that Pansy and Draco were also in the room tonight.

“Have to leave,” Harry said, wiggling out from under the bed. “We have to leave, can’t stay… have to leave.”

“Blaise…?” Theo’s tired voice could be heard as he was woken up by Harry’s late night visit. “Is it Harry again?” he asked, sitting up to look over at Blaise, but paused as he spotted Pansy and Draco by the door. “And extra company tonight too. What’s going on?”

“We followed Harry,” Pansy explained simply.

“No, you followed Harry, and dragged me along,” Draco insisted, smothering a yawn behind his hand. “What is he doing?” Draco asked, when Harry went to crawl back under Blaise’s bed again. Pansy shook her head, moving over to Neville’s bed, deciding that since she had come all the way over here, she might as well surprise her mate.

“Looking for some files,” Blaise said, waving his hand to throw up a quick silencing spell over Ron and Terry’s beds, before he pulled Harry back out from under the bed, lifting his mate into his lap, holding him close to keep Harry for striking out at him. “It’s me, Harry. Come on, wake up,” Blaise said over Harry’s yells.

“Files?” Draco asked curiously, stepping into the room just enough to shut the door. If they were actually going to talk then he didn’t want to be caught there, and he hoped a closed door would buy them a little time.

“What’s going on?” Neville asked sleepily, as he sat up, looking confused, particularly at the fact that his mate was all but in his bed. And that Harry was struggling against Blaise’s hold, sounding quite upset.

“Theo and Blaise are about to tell us about the files that Harry has been sleepwalking here to find,” Pansy told him. “So, what are these files?”

“Harry knows about the files?” Neville asked, looking over to Blaise and Theo.

“Wait, YOU know about the files?” Pansy asked. “Am I the only one who doesn’t know?” She asked, looking from Neville to the others in the room.

“I haven’t seen them myself,” Draco said. “But Harry mentioned something about them, when we went to see Alais the other day,” Draco admitted..

“You mean the day that Harry and Blaise vanished for hours?” Pansy asked, raising an eyebrow at her blond friend.

“Enough about the files,” Theodore said with frustration, getting out of bed and going over to the wardrobe to fetch them. “Let’s just show them already. They need to know anyway if we really are going to leave,” he said as he pulled them out and dropped them on top of his own bed.

Pansy moved from where she was sitting next to Neville to go see what all the fuss was about these files. Draco remained where he was, watching Harry, who had finally stopped fighting against Blaise, and seemed to be waking up.

“Blaise… what…?” Harry frowned, looking around the room, seeming confused as to how he got there, and that Draco and Pansy were there with them.

“It’s okay, Harry. You were sleepwalking again,” Blaise explained.

“I don’t remember…” Harry admitted, looking up at Blaise. “Why do I keep coming here? Was I after the files again?”

“Yes, you were,” Blaise said, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around Harry. “But I think we should really do something about this,” Blaise said, looking serious. “I’m afraid of what’s going to happen if you get your hands on those files, or worse, if you decide that coming here isn’t working, and go back to that room to get what you’re after instead.”

“I… I think I would just leave,” Harry admitted softly.

“Yes, but why now?” Theodore asked, having been listening to the conversation.

“I don’t know!” Harry said, sounding frustrated, and maybe a little scared. “All I know is that we have to leave; we have to get out of here. I don’t know why, I just… I just feel like we have to,” Harry admitted, running a hand through his hair.

“You started acting strange after we left Alais’ house,” Draco pointed out.

“I don’t think that has anything to do with this,” Blaise said, running his fingers through Harry’s hair trying to soothe his mate. “And even if it does, it doesn’t matter right now. What matters is what we’re going to do.” Blaise closed his eyes with a small sigh.

“What do you mean?” Neville asked, moving so he was sitting on the edge of his bed, Pansy next to him..

“Harry wants to leave this place bad enough that he has started sleepwalking,” Blaise pointed out. “So as far as I am concerned, the only way to put a stop to this is to just leave.”

“Are you insane?” Draco all but yelled, eyes wide as he stared at Blaise, then looked to Harry, who also seemed quite surprised by Blaise’s suggestion. “We can’t leave!” Draco insisted. “Rosario and Alais told me and Harry that Adrien died when he tried to leave!” Draco was realising that it was already too late to talk them out of leaving, just from the determined look Blaise had, but he had to say something.

“Draco, calm down,” Theodore said, as he stood and went to his mate. As he wrapped his arm around the blond, Draco leaned into him. “We are not going to die, and we won’t get caught,” Theodore stated confidently.

“What makes you so sure?” Draco asked, looking up at his mate, wanting more reassurance than simple words.

“We have more information than they did. The folders have the names of our parents, and where they all live,” Theodore pointed out.

“Really?” Draco exclaimed, glancing over to Pansy, who was still poring over the files on Theodore’s bed. She just nodded in confirmation, and Draco returned his attention to his mate, fixing Theodore with an annoyed glare. “And you didn’t tell me because…?”

“We were going to,” Blaise said from where he was still sitting on the floor, holding Harry.

“Blaise and I have been forming a plan over the past few days. We just haven’t had the time to talk to any of you,” Theodore explained. “But I promise we are not just heading off to run blindly into the wilderness.”

“So there’s a plan?” Draco asked hesitantly, looking hopeful. Theodore nodded, brushing a few blond strands of hair from Draco’s face.

“Of course there is,” Theodore smiled, pulling Draco close. “Blaise and I would never put you or Harry at risk by just running into this blindly. I had hoped we would have more time, but Blaise is right, we need to act soon.”

“So when were you all planning to leave?” Pansy asked, taking a seat on Theodore’s bed. Neville moved over to her side, a gentle hand on Pansy’s back. She pushed the files to one side for the moment; as fascinating as they were, she didn’t want to miss any details of what the boys were planning.

“You’re coming too,” Harry stated, looking over at her and Neville. He frowned deeply when Pansy shook her head. “You both have to come too!” Harry said insistently. “The plan includes them too, doesn’t it?” he asked, turning to look at his mate accusingly.

“Of course it does,” Blaise assured him.

“It’s not that I don’t want to go. This sounds like a potentially brilliant adventure waiting to happen! ” Pansy told them, touched that they wanted to include her and her mate. “But think about it for a moment. No matter how good Theo and Blaise’s plan is, if we all vanish at once, they’re going to catch us, just like they did with Cedric and the others,” Pansy said.

“We would go at night,” Theodore told her.

“And so did Cedric and Adrien,” Pansy pointed out, her voice becoming sad as she spoke the latter. “We will help you guys get out, of course, but surely it would be better if just the four of you went. At least until we know more.”

“Pansy is right,” Neville agreed, looking at his mate and practically radiating pride. “I am, of course, curious about my parents, my family, just as you all are, and I would love to meet them. However, I have spent the last few days listening to the plans that Blaise and Theo have been making, and I don’t think they’re going to work, not without a distraction,” Neville said sadly.

“We can’t ask someone to be a distraction for us,” Blaise said, narrowing his eyes, not liking that idea at all. He knew it might help, but it felt so wrong to leave Pansy and Neville behind, particularly if the two of them might end up in trouble.

“Well, you’re not asking, I’m telling you,” Neville said firmly, flashing Blaise and Harry a fond smile. “You know as well as I do that you’re not going to get anywhere, not without help.” Neville paused and it was clear that none of the others knew what to say. “Besides,” he added with a sly grin, “it’s not like we can’t follow you later. And maybe you can even bring back help to get us out too.”

“Maybe we can find your parents and bring them to you,” Harry suggested eagerly. Neville chuckled, nodding his approval of that idea.

“We’re really going to leave?” Draco asked, huddling closer to Theodore. The whole idea made him nervous, and it was hard to think straight when he was so tired. He really did need his full night’s sleep, and so all he could think at the moment was that one of them might be the next Adrien, the one to misstep and have an accident, to not be found in time.

“Yes, Draco, we are really going to leave,” Theodore said, tightening his hold on Draco.

“Okay,” Pansy spoke again. “You still haven’t answered my question though; when is this all going to be happening?” she asked, looking between Theodore and Blaise, since the two of them seemed to be the ones in charge of this whole scheme.

“We hadn’t really gotten that far in the planning,” Theodore admitted. “But I was thinking-”

“Tonight,” Blaise said suddenly, earning surprised looks from everyone in the room. “I want to leave with Harry tonight, I can’t let him have another sleepwalking episode. If he’s caught, or he doesn’t come here tomorrow night, we might not get another chance,” Blaise said.

Harry looked up at Blaise. He knew his mate was serious, they would be leaving tonight, with or without Draco and Theo. Turning his attention away from Blaise, Harry locked eyes with Draco. His blond friend looked scared.

“Draco,” Harry said, waiting until those silver eyes were locked on his own, “Blaise is right, we have to leave, and I really need you with us.”

Draco clung tighter to Theo, but nodded his head slowly in agreement. “Okay,” the blond said softly, for as scared as he was of leaving, he was more scared of being left behind, while Harry and Blaise were off in some unknown place.

TBC


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again a huge thanks to Emily for beta reading this for us!
> 
> Also, we want to thank everyone who has been leaving reviews! Even if we don’t reply to everyone, we really do enjoy reading them and seeing people's reactions to our story.

 

**Chapter 8**

_20th December 1995_

Itham was truly impressed with the children. To have formed a plan and put it into motion a mere four, nearly five, days after finding those folders, showed him just how ready they were. Though he knew the rush to leave the city had been helped along by Rosario, who had given Harry a sense of urgency to leave the city. But that was something he was certain of now, that no matter what the cost, the children had to leave the city.

Itham had prepared himself, wanting to be ready to help the children get away undetected; however, this part of his plan had proved to be unnecessary.

It was the early hours of the morning, and Itham was glad to have accidentally fallen asleep at his desk in the secondary home, when he was woken by some hustle and bustle outside. He pushed himself up from his desk and went to investigate, finding himself rather surprised by the sight of guards all but dragging two children up the front steps and into the entrance hall.

“These two were caught trying to leave the city,” one of the guards stated.

“We just went for a walk,” Neville insisted stubbornly.

Itham couldn’t help but smile as he looked down at Neville, who was standing protectively in front of his mate. He wasn’t fooled for one moment, and was sure that the guard was exactly right about what was going on. He also didn’t believe that these were the only two children running away, though he thought that would be a discussion better kept until the guards had left.

“I have these two now, I need you to gather the other Elders,” Itham instructed with finality.

“Are you quite certain?” one of the guards asked, his eyes narrowed on the two children, who were both wearing stubborn expressions and glaring at Itham and the guards.

“Are you suggesting that I can not handle two children on my own?” Itham raised an eyebrow at the guard who had spoken.

“Of course not,” the guard said, looking rather flustered. “We will fetch the other Elders,” he said, hurrying out of the house and back out into the city.

Pansy apparently couldn’t restrain herself any more, as she burst out laughing. “Sorry,” she said through her giggles, “his face was too funny.  ‘Are you suggestion I cannot handle two children on my own,’” she said in her best impersonation of Itham. “I thought he was going to wet himself.”

“Pansy,” Itham said with mock sternness, “I am glad I amused you, but we really do have some important things to discuss BEFORE my peers arrive.”

“Pansy,” Neville chastised under his breath and she coughed, getting herself back under control, before smiling up innocently at Itham.

“I assume that you were not the only ones trying to leave the city this evening,” Itham told them firmly. It was not a question.

Pansy and Neville shared an anxious look, not sure how much to tell anyone. So far their plan had worked, they had managed to ‘accidentally’ catch the attention of the guards on one side of the city and draw them away, but they knew Itham would still have time to catch Harry, Blaise, Draco and Theodore if he wanted to.

“This is not the time for silence,” Itham said urgently. “I promise I want to help you, but I must know where Harry and the others went, if they are to leave undetected,” Itham said.

“You want to help them leave?” Pansy asked skeptically, sharing another look with Neville, who shrugged his shoulders. They really had no way of knowing if Itham was going to help or capture their friends.

“I think it is time that at least some of you went home,” Itham said, glancing out the door and down the steps to see if any of the Elders were approaching yet. It all looked quiet for the moment, but he knew they didn’t have long. “You guys have done wonderfully, but your friends will just end up lost in the middle of nowhere without some help. Where are they?”

“They went out the west side of the city,” Neville said, taking a chance on the Elder. Pansy turned to glare at him, but he was determined to trust his instincts, and they said that Itham was telling the truth, that this man meant him no harm. “They went out round the back of the Temple.”

“Thank you,” Itham said earnestly, “I will go to them as soon as we have you both safe.” He glanced out of the door once more and sighed in relief when he saw that it was Rosario that was going to reach them first and that she was on her way up the steps towards them now. That would simplify matters.

“Itham,” Rosario said, as she approached them. “Pansy, Neville,” she added with a stern glare at the children.

“Harry, and I assume Draco, Blaise and Theodore,” Itham said, glancing to Neville and Pansy, who nodded in agreement, “are trying to leave from the west, behind the Temple. I need to go after them, get them out safely.”

“Of course,” Rosario said, “what do you need me to do?”

“Stay with these two,” Itham told her, looking very grateful, “maybe take them upstairs. I am sure the noise has woken the other children already, and I would imagine they would be glad to see each other. And if Arnaldo or Tinasia ask, I have gone to check the boundaries,” he said, and Rosario nodded in agreement. “Thank you,” Itham gasped out, before hurrying out into the city.

“Come along you two,” Rosario said sternly, already heading further into the house without sparing them another glance.

Pansy threaded her fingers with Neville’s as the two of them followed a few paces behind. “I think this must be where Cedric, Angelina, Lee and Cho are,” she said in a hushed whisper to her mate. And as worried as she was about Harry, Draco, Blaise and Theo, she was eager to see the older children, who had been gone for many months now.

“I’m sure you’re right,” Neville said, though he looked more apprehensive about that conclusion than his mate. He had a sinking feeling that they wouldn’t be returning to their home any time soon, though Neville would never regret helping Harry and the others get away.

\-------------x

Blaise was holding tightly onto Harry’s hand as they made their way through the forest that surrounded the Fae city. They were moving quickly, but it was dark, and he was painfully aware of what had happened to Adrien and therefore reluctant to actually run and risk one of them falling. He could hear the crunch of leaves, telling him that Draco and Theodore were a short way behind them.

“Keep close,” Blaise said, looking over his shoulder to Theodore and Draco, not wanting them to risk getting separated.

“Are you sure we know where we’re going?” Draco asked, staying close to Theo as they continued following Blaise, who was in the lead of their small group.

“I know we’re going away from the city,” Blaise said, turning his head once more to look at Draco. “That’s all we can do for the moment,” Blaise said, taking a moment to look at Harry who was following just behind him. “You holding up okay?” He asked his mate.

“I really wish we didn’t have to leave Pansy and Neville behind,” Harry said, stumbling slightly over the uneven ground, grabbing onto Blaise before he could fall over.

“Careful, Harry,” Blaise said, turning to make sure that Harry was steady on his feet again. “I also wish Pansy and Neville could have come with us, but this way we have a better chance of getting away,” Blaise pointed out.

“We’d have even more of a chance if we actually knew what way to go,” Draco pointed out, sulking. He was so tired, only having had a few hours sleep. That combined with the cold winter weather, meant that he was in a seriously grumpy mood.

“We’ll figure it out,” Theo promised, putting a hand on Draco’s shoulder. “Let’s just keep walking for now. We have to get as far away as possible before we can rest,” Theodore said.

“I know that,” Draco snapped. “Just… let me be grumpy about this. I’m tired, cold, and feel miserable right now. I’m not turning back, and I’m not slowing us down,” Draco huffed.

Harry looked over at Draco. “I’m sorry.”

“And don’t apologise!” Draco insisted as he shook his head in frustration. “Just, let me be in a bad mood. And let’s keep going before they catch us.” The blond looked toward Blaise, the tan boy nodding before turning to continue walking.

They had only taken a couple more steps, when Blaise turned his head once again to make sure that the others were still following, but the distraction proved too much on the uneven ground in the unknown forest. Blaise yelled as one of his feet disappeared out from underneath him.

“Blaise!” Harry and Theo both cried out. Harry scrambled to catch hold of his mate, but despite Harry’s efforts, Blaise found himself falling down a steep bank. “Blaise! Blaise!” Harry shouted, Theo held the smaller boy back from charging down the hill after him.

“Are you okay?” Theodore called out urgently, already trying to figure out how he could get down to his friend without ending up falling himself.

“I’m okay,” Blaise called up to them. “Though, I think my ankle might disagree,” he added with a moan as he tried to push himself back to his feet.

“One of us needs to go down to him,” Draco pointed out quietly, coming to his mate’s side and looking down the slope where Blaise had fallen. Draco sighed. “It should probably be me, I am the best of us when it comes to healing magic.” Though he had yet to practice his healing on a real person, Draco was sure he would be able to fix Blaise’s ankle enough that they could keep going.

“Or you could all stay put safe up here, and let me,” a voice behind them said and the three of them turned quickly, finding themselves face-to-face with Itham. None of them knew what to say, seemingly frozen in the face of having been caught by an Elder of all people.

“What’s going on?” Blaise called out from where he was currently stuck, when everything had gone quiet. “Harry? Draco? Theo!” Blaise tried once again to stand, his worry growing when no one answered him.

“Stop moving,” Itham called down to Blaise as he walked over to the edge and looked down at the teenager, seeing what he was trying to do. The Elder took a deep calming breath and reached his hand out towards Blaise.

“Who is that? What did you do with my mate, my friends?” Blaise called up angrily, not able to see Itham properly in the dark.

“We’re here, Blaise,” Harry called down. “Itham’s going to help you.”

“Itham…?” Blaise asked, his heart sinking. They had failed. They had been caught by an Elder.

“You have just sprained your ankle,” Itham called down to Blaise, “I am going to levitate you up here.” He didn’t even give Blaise enough time to respond, but the teenager yelped in surprise when he felt himself floating up into the air. Blaise didn’t try to struggle, knowing it would be pointless, but he still prepared himself, making a quick plan of how he could still get Harry away once he was back on solid ground.

Itham watched Blaise closely, as he levitated the teenager back up to the top of the slope, though he didn’t set the boy down immediately, wanting to heal his ankle up first before Blaise tried to stand on it.

“Blaise!” Harry cried out, hurrying past Itham, going to his mate and hugging him tightly, before hitting him. “Don’t scare me like that!” Harry scolded, hugging him again.

Itham smiled, watching the two of them for just a moment. But then he moved forward, knowing he needed to act quickly and get Blaise back on his feet, so they could get moving. Blaise looked toward the Elder, when he felt the warm pulse of magic soothing his sore ankle.

“We’re not going back,” Blaise said firmly, wanting to make that one thing very clear. As grateful as he was to Itham for his help, Blaise knew he needed to get Harry away. He kept his arms around his mate, even as Itham finished with the healing magic, and carefully lowered Blaise to the ground.

“I do not expect you to,” Itham assured him calmly, proud of how much Blaise obviously cared about Harry. “However, none of you will get very far through these woods, even if you hadn’t just fallen down that slope. Even if you had managed to make it farther, it would have taken weeks for you to reach any sort of civilization,” Itham explained.

“But we have to leave! We can’t go back there, Itham,” Harry said, looking up at the Elder with wide eyes.

“LIke I said, I do not expect any of you to go back,” Itham reiterated, giving Harry a pointed look. The teenager fell quiet under the Elder’s gaze. “I am here to help you, but we must be quick about it,” Itham said, pulling a silver crystal out of his pocket. “Once you are back in the magical world, it will be difficult for anyone here to find you, but not impossible,” Itham explained, watching as the crystal began glowing, Itham took a step away leaving the crystal to float in the air.

“You’re helping us?” Theo asked, looking confused as he remained between Itham and Draco.

“Yes, I am. I wish I could tell you more, so that you might not think so badly of our kind, but there really is no time for the many questions I’m sure you have,” Itham said with regret. “You four must go now.”

“Wait, Pansy, and Neville....” Harry said quickly, as the light from the crystal swelling, growing great shadows from the trees all around them.

“They will be well taken care of,” Itham promised, “and they will join you in the World of Wizards when I can manage it.” He blinked in surprise when Harry let go of Blaise and hurried over to him, latching onto the Elder in a tight hug.

“Thank you,” Harry whispered. Itham ran his fingers through Harry’s hair, before looking once more to Blaise.

“I expect you to take good care of him,” Itham said seriously. “That goes for all four of you. You will be just fine, so long as you take care of each other.” Itham smiled again, leaning down and kissing the top of Harry’s head.

There was a swooshing sound, and a pulse of magic rippled through the air, all of them turning towards the source. The crystal now rotating steadily in one spot, just above an area of distortion. It was as though the forest itself faded into something else entirely, another place that looked to be the inside of a vast room.

“Now you must go, quickly,” Itham gave Harry a gentle shove back toward Blaise. “The portal is perfectly safe, I promise,” he told them, when he saw their anxiousness.

“I’ll miss you, Itham, and Alais too,” Harry said, grinning at the Elder. “You should really ask her to be your mate!” Harry said, before running through the portal that had been opened into the wizarding world.

“Harry!” Blaise said, chasing after him, not bothering to say a farewell to Itham. Theodore paused only long enough to give Itham a small bow of gratitude, before squeezing Draco’s hand, and leading his mate towards the portal, the two of them following their friends through.

With a wave of his hand, Itham closed the portal behind them, and plucked the crystal out of the air, placing it back in his pocket. Without the boys, or the hum of the portal’s magic, he really was alone in the woods.

Taking a deep breath, Itham closed his eyes, saying a final silent farewell to four of the children that had been raised in this city, before he turned and swiftly made his way back. There were other children here that still needed looking after, and now that his plans were in full swing, he couldn’t stop, not until all the kids had been returned home, hopefully to their families.

\-------------x

Theodore and Draco came out of the portal, Draco glancing behind them as it closed up, cutting them off from the only place they had ever known. Draco held tighter to Theo’s hand, turning around to see exactly where they were.

Blaise and Harry were only a few steps ahead of them, Harry staring around trying to take in everything at once. The golden symbols imbedded into the peacock-blue ceiling, were constantly shifting and Harry seemed to be trying to follow them all at once.

“This place is even bigger than the Council halls!” Harry said in awe.

“But there’s no one here,” Draco pointed out, still hoping that they could find somewhere to sleep soon. “Though I suppose it is very early in the morning.”

“How can you tell?” Theodore asked as he too tried to take it all in. “There aren’t any windows.” He had never been somewhere that you couldn’t see the sky before. Though he supposed Draco was right, it had been most definitely dark out when they had stepped through the portal only a few moments earlier.

“That is weird…” Harry said, as he now started looking to see if there was a window they had missed. “How can a building not have windows? How can people tell what time of day it is in here?”

“Maybe they have other ways of telling what time of day it is?” Blaise suggested.

“That’s just weird,” Harry shook his head, and started walking further down the hallway they were in. “It must get really cold in here, look at all the fireplaces they need!” Harry said with a giggle.

“If they lit all those at once, I think they would roast people alive…” Draco said with a shudder. “Are we sure Itham sent us to the right spot?” Draco asked, looking up at Theo.

“He sent us out of the city, he didn’t mention where he was sending us though,” Theo said, keeping an arm securely around his mate.

“Probably should have gotten that information before we left,” Draco snorted.

“You’re the smart one here,” Harry said, turning around to grin at his friend.

“Not when I’m tired and cranky!” Draco snapped, and Harry just laughed at his friend. Draco was sure that Harry was just as tired as the rest of them, and that the smaller boy was running off pure excitement and curiosity at the moment. Draco let out a long sigh as Harry hurried off ahead of them again, inspecting everything, from the blue ceilings with the golden symbols, to the fountain that was half way down the hall.

“Theo, I need to sit down,” Draco complained, once they too had reached the fountain that Harry was eagerly running around, inspecting from all sides.

“I suppose this place is as good as any to get a couple more hours sleep,” Blaise said. “We can find out where we are after.” Blaise continued watching Harry, shaking his head as the smaller boy climbed up onto the edge of the fountain. “Don’t fall in, Harry,” Blaise said, though he moved closer to his mate just in case.

“I’m not going to fall in,” Harry waved off the warning, reaching his hand out to try and catch some of the water that was spouting out of one of the five statues.

“You are going to fall in. You’re too short to reach that,” Draco put in helpfully, sitting down on the edge of the fountain. Theodore had just taken a seat next to him when there was a loud crack that seemed to echo off the walls of the empty Atrium. Harry screamed in surprise, as one loud crack after another filled the room. The splashing sound of Harry hitting the water was lost among all the other noise.

Theodore was back on his feet, standing in front of Draco, while Blaise jumped over the edge of the fountain to pull Harry out of the water, also taking a protective stance in front of his mate, as he now turned to face the group of people that had appeared, quite loudly, out of nowhere.

“None of you move!” one man ordered, the other five spreading themselves out to either side of him, surrounding the four teenagers.

Theodore watched all these people closely, keeping himself positioned in front of Draco. The unknown people were pointing what Theodore assumed were wands at them, and it was putting him on edge. Off to the right, he could hear Blaise pulling Harry out of the water.

“I said don’t move!” the man, who was obviously in charge, snapped at Blaise, raising his wand a little more and pointing it directly towards the tan boy.

“We can’t even get out of the water?” Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow at the loud man, while keeping his arms wrapped around Harry, shielding his small mate from these people.

“Don’t get smart with me, boy,” the man growled.

“Well, I could get dumb with you, if you rather,” Blaise said with a small smirk, eyeing the man up and down for a moment. “Though I’m not sure I can lower my brain function enough to manage such a thing.”

A dark-haired, ruggedly handsome man let out a barking laugh at that, earning an annoyed glare from the angry man. “Oh lighten up, Scrimgeour, they’re just kids.”

“Kids that managed to break into the Ministry on their own!” Scrimgeour snapped, narrowing his eyes at the man who had just spoken.

“But we didn’t break anything!” Harry spoke up, lifting his head from Blaise’s chest so that he could get a better look at these people. “Itham just sent us here. I promise we didn’t break anything though!” Harry said, smiling widely as he looked around at this group of new people.

“That’s not what they meant, Harry,” Draco said huffily. Harry, however, was far more interested in the strangers around them than what his friend had to say, and let out a small giggle as he took in the appearance of the people standing around them.

“You all dress funny,” Harry said bluntly, earning a snort of amusement from Blaise.

“You’re one to talk, titch,” the ruggedly handsome man who had spoken before commented, letting out another laugh.

“Well, of COURSE I look funny, my clothes are all wet,” Harry said, stepping away from Blaise, ignoring how a couple of these strange people seemed to move quickly, aiming their wands at him again, as he climbed up on the edge of the fountain again. Harry waved his hand, and a moment later his clothes, and the rest of himself, were completely dry, seeming to take on a life of its own as the fabric seemed to flow around him. “There, see, much better,” he declared.

“Who ARE you?” Scrimgeour snarled impatiently, looking perturbed by the casual use of wandless and wordless magic. He wasn’t the only one, as a couple of the others had tightened their holds on their wands, moving into more aggressive positions.

“Oh, I’m Harry,” Harry told him happily. “That’s my mate, Blaise, my best friend, Draco, and Draco’s mate, Theo,” he explained indicating each of them in turn. “Who are you?”

Scrimgeour spluttered in outrage, clearly not used to having to identify himself. “I am Rufus Scrimgeour, Head Auror. And what is your FULL name, boy?” he demanded to know, not remotely amused by the teenager’s cheeky attitude.

“My full…” Harry trailed off, “Oh! Right!” He turned quickly to Theo. “You have the files, right?” Harry asked, jumping down from the side of the fountain and taking a few quick steps toward Theo, who was already reaching into his bag and pulling the files out. He handed one over to Harry, who snatched it up eagerly. “Full name… full name… “ Harry said flipping the file open. “Harry James Potter,” Harry said looking up at Scrimgeour. “Is that right?” he asked eagerly.

“No, you can’t be!” the ruggedly handsome man exclaimed as he rushed forward, grabbing hold of Harry’s hood and pulling it back. A strangled gasp caught in the man’s throat as he stared in shock at the teenager.

“Stay away from my mate!” Blaise raged, shoving the man away from Harry, and wrapping his mate up protectively in his arms. “You even think about touching him again and I will break every bone in your hands!”

“Is it really him, Sirius?” one of the other men asked, sounding shocked.

“Go get Frank and John,” the one called Sirius said, still staring at Harry in shock. “He looks just like a tiny version of James, it has to be him,” he said faintly, looking as though it was taking great restraint not to reach for Harry again.

“What about the other three?” someone else asked, glancing at Blaise, before looking at Theo and Draco. And one of the other men disappeared into thin air, presumable to fetch the two men Sirius had asked for.

“Come near my mate, and I will do more than break your hands,” Theodore threatened, narrowing his eyes at the wizard that was eyeing them.

“Enough of this!” Scrimgeour snapped, “you four are under arrest, for breaking into the Ministry-”

“I told you, we didn’t break anything,” Harry insisted with a pout, insulted that these men hadn’t believed him the first time..

“Remove your hoods, and hand over your wands now!” Scrimgeour ordered.

“Wands?” Harry asked, looking over to Draco curiously.

Draco rolled his eyes at Harry, not surprised that his friend hadn’t been paying attention in the history lessons they had had about the wizarding world. “The sticks they’re pointing at us, they can’t use magic without it,” Draco explained.

“I said remove your hoods, and surrender your wands!” Scrimgeour ordered again. He had had enough of the games these children were playing, and decided it was time to get to the bottom of what was going on.

“We don’t have sticks,” Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest, deciding that he really didn’t like this man that seemed to like yelling at them a lot.

“Harry,” Draco sighed putting a hand over his tired eyes for a moment, “they are called wands.” The blond turned to look at Scrimgeour. “And we don’t have wands,” he said, reaching up and pulling his hood down, hoping that if they started complying with the orders as best they could, then they would eventually be able to go find some place to stay and get some more sleep.

Theodore pulled his own hood down, and saw Blaise doing the same out of the corner of his eye, smiling as Harry waved his hand, and a moment later Blaise’s clothes were dry again. “See, we don’t want any trouble,” Theodore pointed out, but Scrimgeour didn’t look appeased.

“Then perhaps you shouldn’t be in the Ministry of Magic at four in the morning,” one of the other men point out with a scowl.

“Oh, so that’s what this place is,” Draco said, as he once again looked around at the room they were in.

“Enough! Seize them,” Scrimgeour commanded, sick of all this nonsense.

Theo and Blaise both had their hands raised, summoning their inner magic and directing it at the three men who had moved forward, knocking them backwards. “Ha! Want to try that again?” Harry taunted, smirking at Scrimgeour. He trusted that his mate wouldn’t let anything happen to them.

The Head Auror didn’t hesitate to raise his wand, casting a stunner towards Blaise, who collapsed to the ground, before doing the same thing with Theodore. He ignored the outraged cries from Harry and Draco. “You will also be charged with attacking an Auror,” Scrimgeour told them bluntly.

“I’ll show you an attack,” Harry said angrily from where he was crouched next to Blaise. He raised his hand, but Draco’s fingers wrapped around his wrist.

“Don’t,” Draco said quietly, shaking his head, “you’ll make things worse, and we might need their help if we want to find our parents.”

“Stop this!” Sirius said, moving forward to stand in front of the four boys, facing his fellow Aurors. “They are CHILDREN!” he snapped, looking over his shoulder at Draco and Harry. “All we really want to do is ask you four some questions,” Sirius explained.

“Funny way of asking questions!” Harry snapped, his anger still clear in his voice. Sirius glanced back at the other Aurors, who were pushing themselves up off the floor. He wanted to be sure that they weren’t going to shoot off any more spells before he turned and knelt in front of Harry and Draco.

“Yeah, not one of our finer moments,” Sirius said. “I’m sorry about your friends-”

“Mates,” Harry corrected, watching Sirius warily.

“Right...mates, but they are going to be okay, they’ll just sleep for a few hours,” Sirius explained, deciding it might be for the best at the moment to not mention he could easily wake both boys up right now. “But for right now, we need you boys to follow us. There are some rooms more comfortable than the floor here, and I’m sure I can even dig up some hot chocolate for you somewhere,” Sirius smiled.

“What's… hot chocolate?” Harry asked, seeming unable to stop his curiosity from getting the best of him.

“Blimey, kid! Wherever you’ve been, you’ve been deprived!” Sirius said, eyes wide as he stared at Harry. “That settles it then, I’ll be sure to find some hot chocolate for you,” Sirius smiled. “Now, let’s get your friends… I mean mates,” Sirius corrected himself quickly, earning a small smile from Harry. “Let’s get you all somewhere more comfortable, and warm, and then we can ask you some questions. And no one is going to attack anyone again, okay?” Sirius said, raising his voice slightly so that his fellow Aurors could also hear him.

Harry gave Draco a questioning look. He really did like this man; he was kind of amusing, but while Harry wanted to trust him, he also knew it was best to trust Draco’s judgment in a matter like this. But Draco looked just as confused as he was about this whole situation, and also really tired. Apparently he was going to have to make this decision himself.

Harry closed his eyes and focused on his mental shields, like he had done numerous times with Firo and Kaylin. He pulled his magic back from them carefully, until he felt the swell of emotions from others building in him. He smiled as he realised he had been exactly right about Draco; his friend was confused, upset and tired. The Sirius guy was a different matter altogether; he seemed to almost be overflowing with curiosity, so much like Harry was, but there was also hope and affection too. There was nothing that gave Harry cause for concern, so he bolstered his mental shields and smiled warmly at Sirius when he opened his eyes once more.

“You okay, kid?” Sirius asked.

“I’m okay,” Harry said, still smiling at Sirius. “We’ll go with you, and we can answer your questions,” Harry said. “But…” Harry glanced towards Draco once more, before returning his attention to Sirius. “We’ve kind of been up all night at this point… is there somewhere we can get some sleep first?” Harry asked.

“I think that is a reasonable request,” a new voice said, as someone else stepped over toward the boys. Harry looked up at this new man, watching as Sirius stood up to greet him.

“Frank, finally someone with a little common sense,” Sirius sighed in relief, the two men shaking hands, before Frank turned his attention to the boys. Kneeling down so that he was closer to eye level with Harry and Draco, he gave them both a small smile.

“If you two can follow me, I will show you where you can get some rest,” he said.

“What about Theo and Blaise?” Draco asked, tensing when he saw Frank pull his wand out.

“I’m just going to conjure stretchers for the two of them, and bring them along with us. It is an easier way of carrying them,” Frank explained, waving his wand and doing just that. Draco shuddered, reluctantly moving away from Theo as the stretcher he was on was lifted into the air. He felt Harry shifting closer to him, so he reached out and took hold of his friend’s hand, holding it tightly.

Harry held Draco’s hand just as tightly, eyeing the levitating stretchers disdainfully. He wanted to be near Blaise, but the magic used to create and levitate the stretchers was making his skin crawl. “Do you think this is what Alais meant?” Harry whispered to Draco, “about Magic being corrupted?” Harry asked.

“Most likely,” Draco replied just as softly. “It certainly doesn't feel right at all. I don’t think now is the time to talk about this though,” Draco said, eyeing the adults that were still around.

“Alright, you two,” Sirius said, “follow me, and I will show you where you can rest.” With the promise of more sleep, Draco willingly followed Sirius, keeping hold of Harry’s hand and gently pulling his smaller friend along to follow as well. Blaise and Theodore were levitated along behind them as they were taken to a small room.

The first thing that Harry noticed about the room was that there were no beds, or anywhere that could be comfortable enough to sleep. Turning to ask Sirius where they were supposed to sleep, he saw the man moving a chair up against a wall, before waving his wand over it. Harry watched as the chair was transfigured into a rather comfortable looking bed, but Harry could feel the wrongness of the magic surrounding it.

“Here you go,” Sirius said, and Harry stared at him dumbfounded, surely this man didn’t expect him to sleep on that, but Sirius was watching Harry expectantly.

“They really don’t know any better,” Draco sighed, shaking his head sadly.

“I can’t sleep on that,” Harry said, looking at Draco.

“Neither can I,” Draco agreed. “Let’s fix it. THEN we can sleep,” Draco said moving forward to do just that, but Harry stopped him. Sirius and Frank watched the pair of them with fascinated confusion.

“You’re too tired. I can do it,” Harry smiled at his friend, hurrying over to the bed, studying it for a moment before he waved his hand over it, feeling the magic, as if it had been forced into this shape, and held there by invisible bindings. Harry simply broke what was holding the magic in place, watching as the bed seemed to snap back into its original form of a chair.

“What did you do that for?” Sirius asked with a frown on his face. “I thought you two wanted to sleep.”

“So I can do this properly,” Harry told him, his attention on the chair. A wave of his hand had the chair morphing and shifting into a larger bed than the one that Sirius had created before.

“Much better,” Draco said with a relieved sigh, moving forward and all but falling onto the bed.

“Wandless magic?” Frank asked rhetorically, hardly believing what he had just witnessed. These were just young children, fifteen year olds, and they were doing magic without a wand as though it was nothing.  

“Can you put Blaise and Theo on the bed next to Draco?” Harry requested, turning to look at Frank and Sirius.

“I can just make more beds for them,” Sirius offered, frowning when Harry shook his head.

“I know you’re trying to help but… your magic is wrong, and this bed is big enough for the four of us,” Harry said with a gesture to the bed that Draco was already lying down on.

“Alright,” Frank said, waving his wand and levitating first Blaise off his stretcher, and onto the bed, before doing the same with Theodore. He watched as Harry smiled his thanks, before the teenager climbed into the bed too, squeezing down between Blaise and Draco, his blond friend already mostly asleep.

“I guess we’ll leave you to sleep,” Sirius said, looking with bemusement at the four teenagers snuggled up together.

\---------------x

Frank sat at the table, looking around at the small group he had been allowed, who would help him question the boys once they were awake and ready. Though Scrimgeour wasn’t to be left out, Frank had insisted that they couldn’t afford to frighten the boys any more than they already had, otherwise they may never get the answers they needed, and the ones that Scrimgeour wanted.

The thud of the small stack of files that Dawlish dropped onto the table sounded loud in the quiet room. They were in a room down the hall from where the four boys were sleeping, Frank wanting to talk to Dawlish and Mad-Eye about the children before they started any questioning; Sirius had stubbornly insisted he be included too, given his godson was involved.

“The Theo kid had these,” he told them, opening them up and handing them around to the others to read. “I think these really might be the missing children.”

“That is definitely Harry,” Sirius reiterated. He hadn’t seen Harry since the boy was about four months old, but he was absolutely certain that the petite boy with messy black hair and bright green eyes could only be Lily and James’ son.

“This says the little blond is Draco Malfoy, and I am sure that’s true given that white-blond hair,” Frank pointed out. “But I am certain that we never had any record of any Malfoy child going missing.”

“Nor a Nott child,” Moody added, holding up the file he was reading.

“But some of these are others on our list,” Dawlish pointed out. “Ron Weasley, Susan Bones, Terry Boot…” he paused as he picked up another file and saw the name. “Think you need to see this one, Frank,” he said.

Frank moved around the table. A strangled noise escaped him, and he reached up to run his fingers over his son’s name. He read on, fighting to stay calm through the description of what had been done to his wife that night, but the next page contained details of Neville’s progression in what seemed to be classes and even medical records, showing that Neville was apparently a healthy boy. It wasn’t much, but it was the first indication he had seen in fourteen years that his son was still alive somewhere.

“We’ll find him,” Dawlish promised, pressing a hand to Frank’s back. “These four children will be able to tell us things that we haven’t been able to find out in more than a decade.”

“And if he ends up like Adrien Pucey?” Frank asked sadly. The boy’s body had been returned to them many months ago, but there had been no clue where he had been, nor what had happened.

“We might even be able to get some answers for his parents too,” Mad-Eye pointed out.

“Maybe we should make a list of questions to ask the boys,” Sirius suggested. “Like, how did they even get into the Ministry at four in the morning? Harry said something about some guy sending them there, but he didn’t really explain himself.”

“I suggest that each of us speaks with one of them,” Frank suggested, tearing his eyes away from Neville’s file. “And no you aren’t not interviewing Harry, Sirius,” he said with a amused smile before Sirius had even had a chance to ask.

“Then I want to talk to this Blaise Zabini,” Sirius said, reading through the boy’s file. It told him what both Blaise and Harry had already said, that the two boys were mates. It was something that he was definitely going to be asking Blaise about.

“I am going to speak with the Malfoy boy,” Mad-Eye stated firmly. He had dealt with Lucius Malfoy many times over the years, and he was going to find out if the young blond was cut from the  same cloth.

“I will speak with Harry then,” Frank said, “Dawlish, you can speak to the Nott boy,” Dawlish nodded his agreement to this, pulling Theodore’s file over and scanning through it.

“I think it might be wise to separate the boys while they are all still sleeping,” Mad-Eye said.

“I don’t know if that will be necessary,” Sirius said.

“Need I remind you there is still a war going on! Voldemort may have been quiet, but we have no proof that these boys have not been raised by him to be trained killers,” Mad-Eye said, glaring at Sirius when the other man rolled his eyes.

“There has never been any proof that Voldemort even took any of the kids,” Sirius pointed out.

“And there’s been no proof that he didn’t,” Mad-Eye shot back. “And now we find that they were with the children of known Death Eaters,” he pointed out.

“It is possible that those children were taken too,” Frank reasoned, “and their parents simply didn’t trust the Aurors to find them. And to be fair, we haven’t found a single one of the missing children before now, unless you include Adrien Pucey, and I tend not to.”

“We won’t know anything until the boys wake up and we can speak to them,” Dawlish pointed out, not wanting to give Mad-Eye a chance to go off on one of his rants about vigilance. “But I have to say, Moody might be right about separating them now. From what you and Sirius have told us about them, they aren’t likely to go into individual rooms willingly.”

“But that will do nothing to earn their trust and get them talking,” Frank pointed out. “And, Sirius, you saw how they reacted to your magic. They don’t like it for some reason, so even trying to move them while asleep might well lead to them fighting us.”

“Talking to them calmly seemed to get more results the first time around,” Sirius said. “Why don’t we try it that way, then if that doesn’t work, Mad-Eye, you can force them into separate rooms, but I will have no part of it,” Sirius said firmly.

“You are not the one in charge here, Sirius,” Mad-Eye reminded him.

“No, you’re right,” Frank spoke up. “This is my case. I am the one in charge, and I agree with Sirius. We are not going to get any answers if we try to force them out of these children,” Frank pointed out. “Even if it turns out that they were taken by Voldemort and raised to be killers,” he said, cutting Mad-Eye off before the older Auror could speak.

\---------------x

Theo woke with a sudden gasp, sitting up quickly, his mind still on the fight that he and Blaise had been in. However, moving proved to be a mistake, as he suddenly felt light-headed from his sudden movement. Theo lowered his head, one of his hands resting on his head as he tried to get his head to stop spinning long enough to figure out what had happened.

Looking to his right, his frown deepened when he saw not only his mate sleeping next to him, but Harry as well. The smaller boy was curled up, sleeping between Draco and Blaise, who was on the opposite side of the bed from Theo. The two smaller boys were wrapped up in Blaise’s arm, which reached over the both of them protectively.

Theo didn’t really want to wake any of them up, but he wanted answers. He had seen Blaise go down first, which had been enough of a distraction that Theo could only assume that he had been hit by the same spell as Blaise. This meant that Blaise most likely would know even less than him. Turning his attention away from Blaise to look at Draco and Harry, Theo wondered if they had any idea what was going on or where they were.

Theodore was just debating on waking Harry, knowing that Draco needed all the sleep he could get, unless they wanted to deal with him being cranky and in a bad mood for the whole day again, when a sound across the room caught his attention. Turning quickly, his attention focused on the door as it was slowly pushed open.

Theo narrowed his eyes as an unknown man came in. It wasn’t one of the ones that had attacked them, so Theo refrained from throwing his own spells at him, for now at least. Theo watched as the man closed the door behind him, stepping a little further into the room.

“Don’t come any closer,” Theo warned, shifting slightly so that he was in a better position to protect his sleeping mate and friends.

“I’m not going to hurt you or your friends, Theodore,” the man said.

“Not that I would give you the chance to,” Theo replied. “All the same, you can stay right where you are, and tell me who you are, what you want, and where we are,” Theo demanded.

“My name is Frank Longbottom,” the man replied, doing as Theo requested and not moving any closer. “You four are still in the Ministry of Magic. I just want to ask you and your friends a few questions,” Frank explained.

“How about you start by asking me, and I will decide if it is something I am willing to disturb my mate’s sleep for,” Theo suggested, watching the man with curiosity. There was something familiar about him, and the man’s name gave him a good idea of exactly why, though he intended to keep that to himself for the moment.

“We would actually like to speak with each of you… separately,” Frank told him as kindly as he could.

“No,” Theo said bluntly.  

“I understand that you are reluctant to be separated from your friends, but I believe this to be the fastest way for all of us to get the answers we are looking for,” Frank explained.

“How so?” Theo asked curiously. So far Frank had seemed reasonable and had kept his distance as requested, so Theo was prepared to at least hear the man out.  

“I am certain that you four have quite a story to tell,” Frank said, pausing. Theo hesitated for a moment before nodding once. “By questioning you all separately, and making sure that your stories corroborate each other, people are more likely to believe you,” Frank pointed out, keeping his expression neutral as Theodore seemed to think about what he said.

“What you’re saying, it makes sense,” Theo admitted. “I suppose you wouldn’t know that we don’t lie, and I’m fairly sure that Harry is incapable of telling a lie.”

“So you will allow us to question you?” Frank asked.

“I never said that,” Theo said. “All I said was that it made sense. However, I do not trust you, and I will not let my mate go off with some unknown person. And I can guarantee that after being attacked like we were, Blaise is not likely to let Harry out of his sight any time soon.”

“I understand your concerns, Theodore, but I promise that you four are going to be kept safe. The people I have chosen to do the questioning are not the ones that attacked you last night. You four are not going to be hurt,” Frank promised, but he already knew it was going to take a lot more than words to get this boy to agree. A soft groan from the other side of the bed caught Frank’s attention, and he glanced over at Blaise.

Theodore didn’t turn his back on Frank at all, and only turned his head slightly. “Blaise, don’t sit up too quickly,” Theo said.

“No problem with that,” Blaise said, his eyes still closed, his arm tightening around Harry.

“You are going to want to sit up though. We have company,” Theo said, smirking slightly as he heard his friend sit up, apparently still too fast as the tan boy let out another groan of discomfort. “I warned you,” Theo said.

“Shut up, Theo,” Blaise said, shooting a glare at his friend, before he noticed Frank standing in the middle of the room, watching them. “Who are you?” Blaise demanded, shifting around so that he was in a better position to attack if he had to.

“This is Frank Longbottom,” Theodore answered, before Frank could.

“Longbottom…” Blaise frowned, looking to Theo once again. “Isn’t that…?”

“Yes,” Theo cut Blaise off, taking a moment to give his friend a pointed look. Thankfully, Blaise seemed to get the message, and fell quiet. “Frank wants to ask us some questions,” Theo explained.

“Oh, is that all?” Blaise snapped, his frown turning into a full scowl. “Funny way of asking questions; shooting spells at us like you did,” he pointed out. At the moment, he didn’t really care much what this man wanted; he just wanted to get his mate and friends to somewhere safe.

“That was not my doing,” Frank assured him patiently. “I arrived after you two had already been hit, and by then one of my colleagues had already put a stop to it.”

“So Draco and Harry weren’t hit with any spells?” Theodore asked, seeming to relax a little bit what that new bit of information.

Frank smiled at him warmly. “Neither of them were hit with spells,” he confirmed. “The two of them were simply exhausted, and requested we allow you all some rest before asking our questions.”

Blaise made a soft noise of surprise, glancing down at his mate once again; he was kind of touched that apparently this man had allowed them a chance to rest. Harry and Draco were still snuggled up close together fast asleep. Though when Blaise reached out and ran his hand through Harry’s hair, the petite boy snuffled slightly, shifting towards the touch with a soft smile on his face.

“We can wait until they wake up,” Frank told them. “They really did look knackered. Were the four of you travelling all night?”

“I thought you wanted to question us separately,” Theo pointed out, and Blaise all but growled at that idea, leaning protectively towards Harry a little more.

“Not questioning, just talking,” Frank said placatingly, holding up his hands.

“Blaise…” The three of them all looked down at the two boys on the bed. Harry had twisted his head to blink blearily up at Blaise. “Wah happening?”

“Hi,” Blaise greeted fondly, brushing Harry’s scruff of hair back from his face. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Why are you worried?” Harry asked, detangling himself from Draco and rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he started to sit up.

“I’m not worried,” Blaise denied, frowning at his sleepy mate. “I am just not going to let this… stranger take you away from me.”

Harry blinked in confusion, turning his attention away from Blaise to look over at Frank. He smiled, giving the man a small wave. “Good morning,” Harry said, recognising this man from last night. “Where’s the other guy?” Harry asked, sitting up and stretching.

“Harry, you know him?” Blaise asked, shifting so that he could pull Harry onto his lap.

“Yeah, Draco and I talked to him last night, and the other guy too,” Harry said, looking back toward Frank. “I’m sorry… I don’t remember your names…” Harry said, and Frank chuckled.

“I am Frank, and ‘the other guy’, I am sure you are referring to is Sirius. He will be in shortly; he went to get you boys some breakfast,” Frank said.

“Oh good! I’m starving!” Harry said. “Are you going to question us while we eat?” Harry asked.

“No. After you have eaten, we would like to take you boys into separate rooms and question you,” Frank explained for the third time, though he was still being patient about it. It would do no good to get upset with these boys, when at least two of them were reluctant to be separated from the others.

“But we will stay here in this Ministry place?” Harry asked curiously. He didn’t mind answering their questions, but he didn’t want them to be taken to different buildings. As long as they stayed here, then he was sure he would always be able to find Blaise.

“Of course,” Frank assured him. “And you will only be next door to each other. The rooms are all in the same corridor. And then you will be able to come back here after, if you would like.”

“Okay,” Harry said, gifting him with a warm smile when he felt nothing to fear from the man, who seemed to be more curious than anything.

“Harry!” Blaise exclaimed, not nearly as okay with this as his mate was.

“It’ll be okay,” Harry told his mate, looking up at him. “Trust me.” Blaise huffed, not entirely happy, but trusting Harry completely. “But first food!” he added excitedly when the door started to open, and Sirius stepped in with a few plates floating along behind him.

“I didn’t know what you kids like, so I just got you all some of everything,” Sirius explained, levitating the dishes over to the table.

“I’m SO hungry,” Harry declared, bouncing in his excitement until a pillow suddenly flew up and hit him in the face.

“Stop shaking the bed!” Draco said, his eyes still closed as he rolled over, clearly intending to go back to sleep.

“No,” Harry whined, shifting out of Blaise’s lap, and started shaking Draco. “You slept enough. There’s food! And then the funny dressed people are going to ask us questions, and we’re somewhere new, so you have to wake up so we can explore!” Harry said.

Draco cracked open an eye, glaring at Harry who just grinned widely at him. “Fine, I’ll get up,” Draco said. “But I swear, the first person who wakes me up tomorrow before I am ready to get out of bed is going to be turned into a slug!”

Theodore chuckled, reaching over and running his hand through Draco’s hair. “I promise we will let you get extra sleep tomorrow,” he said, leaning in and giving Draco a quick kiss on the cheek.

Sirius cleared his throat, gaining the four boys attention. “So, are you hungry, or did I just bring all this food for nothing?” he asked, smiling a little.

“I’m hungry!” Harry declared, scrambling out of bed quickly.

“Harry, wait!” Blaise growled, hurrying to get out of bed with his mate, determined to remain as close to Harry as he could before they were separated to be questioned. Reaching the table, Blaise looked down at the assortment of what was being presented to them as ‘food’, but Blaise was fairly sure he had never seen an assortment like this before.

“Are we sure this is edible?” Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Where’s the fruit?” Draco asked, as he joined them at the table.

“Fruit?” Sirius asked, looking at Draco like he was crazy. “What do you want fruit for? We have sausages, and fried eggs, and scrambled eggs, and toast, and baked beans,” he told him, pointing to the foods as he named them. “Grilled tomatoes,” he added, “that’s technically a fruit.”

“Just give it a try, Draco,” Theo said with a chuckle as he came over to stand behind his scowling mate. Apparently food was going to have to be something else that they had to adjust to.  

\---------------x

Theo sat in the small room that he had been led into nearly five minutes ago. He didn’t bother looking around as there really wasn’t anything in this room to see, just two chairs, a table, and the door that he had entered through. He was silently hoping that the rest of the wizarding world wasn’t as bland as this place.

The door opened, and Theo turned his attention to the man that came through, closing the door behind him. “Hello Theodore,” the man greeted.

“I am finding it extremely unfair that all of you know our names before we even know yours,” Theo said, eyeing the man as he came to sit across the table from him. Even though Theo had grown up with everyone around him knowing his name and the names of all the other children around, he was finding it unnerving that a complete stranger knew his name.

“My name is John Dawlish,” he introduced. “And I know your name only because I read your file,” Dawlish said, putting the file on the table. Theodore narrowed his eyes.

“Those are mine. You had no right to take them from me,” Theodore said. “When we are done here, I will be taking them back.”

“These files have information that we need,” Dawlish said. “You can have them back after we have copies for our own files,” he compromised.

“Fine,” Theo said. “Let’s just start with your questions, so that I may get back to my mate.”

“Right to business then,” Dawlish said, opening Theo’s file and pulling out a blank piece of parchment before smiling at the teenager. “Perhaps you could start by telling me how the four of you got into the Ministry.”

“A portal,” Theo told him, “but don’t bother asking me the details. I didn’t open it; Itham did. He wanted to be sure we made it here safely.”

Dawlish scribbled a few notes before looking back up at Theo again. “And do you know where we might find Itham?” he asked.

“In the city I would think,” Theo said, shrugging his shoulders a little. “He didn’t follow us through, so I imagine he went back there. Why do you want to find him?” he asked with suspicion.

“Because you and your three friends have been missing for fifteen years,” Dawlish said. “Along with several other children, some of whose files you had with you. Frank and I have spent most of that time trying to locate you, to return you to your families.”

“Draco is my family,” Theo said firmly, wanting there to be no confusion on this. Harry was right about them all having parents, but that didn’t change anything in Theo’s opinion. “Harry and Blaise are my family.”

“Be that as it might, we need to know where you have been, so that we can find the people who took you from your parents,” Dawlish tried to explain, but Theo continued to watch him calmly. “Do you have a surname for Itham?” he asked, deciding to try and take another tact.  

“Oh they don’t use surnames,” Theo told him with a small smile. “None of us ever have. Itham is just Itham.”

“They?” Dawlish questioned. “Who do you mean by they?”

“The Hydras. They raised us in the city,” Theo explained. “That’s where we all lived. In the home they made for us.”

“Is the Hydras what they called themselves?” Dawlish asked, as he made more notes of what he was being told.

“No. Hydras is what they are,” Theo said, pausing as he thought for a moment when Dawlish still didn’t seem to understand. “They are also referred to as the Fae. Is that name more familiar?” Theo asked.

“You were taken by Fae?” Dawlish asked, staring at Theo in complete disbelief. It was no wonder they had been unable to find the children. They had been hidden away by creatures so magical that many wizards questioned their existence. “Tell me about this city,” he requested, his parchment and quill ready to write down everything Theo told him.

\---------------x

Blaise sat at the table staring at the man sitting across from him. Neither of them had spoken a single word, despite having been sitting in the same room together for nearly ten minutes.

“You know,” Blaise said, finally breaking the silence. “If you want me to answer questions, it might help if you actually asked some.” Blaise smirked.

“Okay then,” Sirius said, leaning forward in his chair, resting his arms on the table and folding his hands in front of him. “What exactly is your relationship to Harry?” Sirius asked.

Blaise raised an eyebrow at him. “He is my mate. Next question,” Blaise said with a smirk, amused to see the obviously annoyed look cross Sirius’ face.

“Care to elaborate what you mean by ‘mate’?” Sirius asked.

“How many meanings are there for ‘mate’?” Blaise questioned back. “We are bonded; have been since we were ten. He’s mine, and I’m his. Clear enough?”

“You’re both under age; you can’t be bonded,” Sirius said, looking very unhappy about this new information.

“What’s it to you anyway?” Blaise asked curiously. It made no sense to him that this man would apparently object to his and Harry’s mateship. “Why do you even care if he’s my mate?”

“Because he’s my godson, and therefore my responsibility,” Sirius declared passionately. “And he is clearly far too young for such a relationship with anyone.”

Blaise scoffed. “You don’t know anything about Harry,” he told him, “nor me. And certainly not about our bond. And, his godfather or not, you won’t keep us apart.”

“Watch me,” Sirius sneered. “He is my family, not yours.”

“You want a relationship with Harry, then you are going to have to accept my bond with him,” Blaise said smugly. “Because if you ask him to choose between us, he will always choose me. It isn’t you who has been there for Harry every day of his life, that would be me and Draco. We are his family.”

“Don’t say it as if I didn’t WANT to be there for him!” Sirius growled, slamming his hand down on the table. “I have spent every day, for nearly fifteen years, looking for him.”

“And it’s not my fault he was taken,” Blaise stated calmly, unfazed by Sirius’ irritation. “If we want to get technical, I was also taken from my own family. Harry, Theo, Draco, those three are the only family I have. I left the rest of my family back in the city.”

Sirius took a calmly breath. “Then maybe you can tell me exactly whose fault it actually is,” he suggested instead, the prospect of finding the monsters that has taken the children pushing him on.

\---------------x

Uneasy was a pretty good word to describe how Draco felt at the moment, and he couldn’t help but wonder if the others were being questioned by people who looked just as frightening as the man in front of him now. “I think I’ve changed my mind about the questions,” Draco said, though from the way this man glared at him, he knew that changing his mind wasn’t exactly an option.

“My colleagues believe that you were one of these kidnapped children,” Mad-Eye told him, ignoring what Draco had said. “But I have been dealing with Malfoys for decades. I know your kind. Your father and his Death Eater friends are behind all of this.”

“Excuse me?” Draco asked, confused about half of what the man had just said.

“What does You-Know-Who want with so many children?” the Auror asked instead, his gaze stern and fixed on Draco.

“I have no idea who or what you are talking about,” Draco told him earnestly. When Frank had asked them to answer questions, Draco had assumed it would be ones that he actually understood at least. “And I have never even met my father within my living memory.”

“Lies!” Moody exclaimed, causing Draco to jump.

“I’m not lying,” Draco snapped.

“You will tell us what you know,” Moody insisted.

“Sure, if you start asking questions that make sense any time soon,” Draco said grumpily, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

“Alright then, let’s start with what you were doing breaking into the ministry early this morning,” Mad-Eye said, his magical eye fixed on Draco, watching as the blond boy shifted slightly in his chair. The teenager was obviously uncomfortable, at least to his trained eyes, but was actually very good at hiding it.

“We were sent here by Itham,” Draco said, glad to have a question he could finally answer.

“And what were you sent here for? What were you after?” Mad-Eye asked.

“And now you’re back to not making much sense,” Draco said. “We were sent here by Itham to get out of the city. We weren’t after anything; this just happened to be the place where we landed.”

“You managed to bypass all the protective magic surrounding this place. You got in nearly undetected, and you claim that you were after nothing,” Moody said, with obvious skepticism. “That must have taken some seriously dark magic to achieve. Your father must have taught you much. Or did you learn from the Dark Lord himself?”

“My father hasn’t taught me anything. I don’t even know him. Same goes for this... Dark Lord. I was taken from my family when I was one,” Draco insisted, getting seriously frustrated with the stupid questions and insinuations now. “And I didn’t do ANY magic to get us here, dark or otherwise. I already told you, Itham sent us here. It was his magic, and there wasn’t anything dark about it; it was so bright that it almost hurt to look at if I’m honest.”

“If you really were kidnapped like the others, then why were you never reported missing?” Moody demanded to know, clearly not believing anything Draco had to say. “We have case files documenting more than forty children who went missing, and you are not listed among them. Nor is Theodore, and you expect me to believe it is a coincidence that his father is also a suspected Death Eater and friend of your father’s.”

“How would I possibly know the answer to that?” Draco asked incredulously, ignoring the hurt he felt at learning that his parents had never looked for him. “I have no idea what a Death Eater is, and had no idea that Theo’s father and mine were friends, because, as I have already told you. I. HAVE. NEVER. MET. MY. FATHER!”

“You will tell me the truth!” Moody insisted impatiently.

“I AM telling you the truth! But you’re not going to believe a word I say because you are convinced that I am one of these Death Eater things, or that I have used Dark magic!” Draco shouted, slamming his hands on the table as he stood up. “The only ‘Dark magic’ here is what YOU wizards use! It is dark, and corrupt, and so twisted from what is supposed to be!” Draco glared at Mad-Eye, breathing deeply as he tried to keep the rest of his anger in check.

“I am done here,” Draco said, turning to leave the room; however, as he reached the door and tried to open it, he found it locked.

“We are not finished,” Mad-Eye said, as Draco turned back to face him.

\---------------x

Harry quite liked Frank. The man gave him a good feeling, and he smiled up at the man, as Frank handed him a glass of water and sat down across from him. There was a feeling of curiosity practically radiating from the man.

“What is it you want to ask me?” Harry asked kindly.

“I think we should start with, how did you boys get into the Ministry?” Frank asked, blinking when Harry giggled at him.

“I don’t think that’s what you really wanted to ask, but I’ll answer that question anyway,” Harry said, taking a sip of his water before he spoke again. “Itham sent us here, by a portal, so we could get out of the Fae city,” Harry said, sitting back in his chair swinging his feet much in the same way a young child would.

“Fae city?” Frank asked, eyes going wide for a moment.

Harry nodded. “Yeah, that’s where we all grew up. Me, Draco, Blaise, Theo, Pansy, Neville...” Harry paused, blinking at Frank, when he felt the spike of curiosity coming from the man again. “You want to ask about Neville?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.

“Neville, he is my son,” Frank said, smiling a little at the look of surprise that crossed Harry’s face.

“Are you serious?” Harry asked excitedly, but that soon faded and Harry sat back in his chair. “Neville and Pansy were supposed to come with us,” Harry said softly.

“They were?” Frank asked, unable to stop the pang of fear, wondering what had happened to stop Neville from coming with Harry and the others.

“Yeah, Theo and Blaise, they were making a plan to escape from the city, but some of the other kids, they tried it before us and were caught, one of them...he didn’t make it,” Harry closed his eyes.

“Adrien,” Frank practically whispered, as realisation washed over him.

Harry’s eyes snapped open and looked up at the man. “You know about him?”

Frank nodded sadly. “His body was found, though we were unable to determine what had happened to him, nor where he had been for the majority of his life. And Neville…”

“Oh, he is fine. He and Pansy created a distraction, so that we could get away safely,” Harry explained quickly, realising that Frank was thinking the worst. He was about to explain further but a wave of frustration swelled nearby, catching his attention.

“Harry…?” Frank asked worriedly, seeing the sudden change in the boy.

“Something’s wrong,” Harry said, getting to his feet, and focusing, trying to identify whose emotions he was picking up on. He felt a wave of fear mix with the previous feelings of frustration, and that was enough to have Harry moving toward the door, vaguely aware that Frank was following him.

“Harry, what is it?” Frank asked, watching the boy worriedly.

Harry didn’t answer, turning his attention to the other rooms in the corridor trying to figure out where these emotions were coming from. He was fairly sure that it wasn’t any of the wizards in this place, as they all felt different to him, and Harry assumed that was because of the corrupted magic they were using. No, this was definitely coming from either Blaise, Theo or Draco.

Huffing, Harry decided the only way to find out who it was, was to check each room. So, still ignoring Frank, Harry moved first toward the room next to his own. Not even bothering to knock on the door, he pushed it open, surprising Sirius and Blaise.

“Harry?” Blaise stood up, looking at his mate in concern. Harry stared at him for only a short moment before shaking his head and turning to leave the room, heading toward the next. Reaching out to open this door, like he had just done with the previous one, Harry pulled back as his hand connected with something unpleasant.

“Who is in this room?” Harry asked, turning to look at Frank and Sirius, both of them unable to hide their surprise at Harry’s sudden anger.

“I think Mad-Eye is in there with Draco,” Frank said, and almost regretted saying anything when he felt the sudden swell of magic coming from Harry as the boy turned back toward the door.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Blaise heading into the room that Theodore was in, but his main focus was on the door in front of him and the emotions of his friend that he could feel beyond it. Reaching out his hands, he shuddered as he felt the magic surrounding the door. With a loud scream, Harry threw his hands down, feeling the magic shatter, and the door being pulled towards him, straining against the hinges that held it in place. There was a loud crunching sound, and Harry stepped out of the way as the heavy piece of wood flew past him.

“What’s going on?” Theo asked, stepping out into the corridor behind Blaise. Dawlish followed behind the two of them, looking concerned.

“Get away from him!” Harry exclaimed as he stepped into the room and up to Draco’s side. Moody had his wand out, but not quick enough to react to the interruption. Harry raised his hand without a second thought and the spell on the Auror’s tongue was lost as the man flew backwards, hitting the far wall hard.

“Harry,” Draco said, throwing his arms around his best friend’s neck. He didn’t want to admit it, but the scar-riddled older man had been starting to seriously scare him, so he was very glad to see his friend.

“Maybe you want to make a note of all that,” Theodore suggested to Dawlish, as the man was still holding his parchment and quill. “Just in case you forget why you should never mess with one of us, particularly Harry.” And with that, he headed over to where the two smaller boys were standing, accepting Draco into his arms when Harry let the blond go.

TBC

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who is curious, titch means ‘small person’. I know this isn’t a word that you ever really hear in the US, but it makes sense for Sirius to use it since this story doesn't take place in the US anyway.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed the extra long chapter! See you all in three weeks!


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three weeks seem to have vanished, but here is our next installment. Thank you to Emily for her work beta-reading this. Hope you enjoy

**Chapter 9**

 

_ 20th December 1995 _

 

Frank had no idea when they had lost control of the situation, everything had been going fine, the boys were answering their questions, and Frank felt like they could have made some progress into finding where the other missing children were located. Then Mad-Eye, the overly paranoid Auror, had gone and ruined it. 

 

Frank could understand what the man had been doing, trying to get to the truth, and he was sure that if these kids had been hiding anything, Mad-Eye would be able to find out for sure; this was the only reason Frank had allowed Mad-Eye to question one of them in the first place. However, right now, their small amount of progress had been ruined by this one incident, and now Frank was put in the position of either stopping these boys from leaving and losing all hope of ever getting them to trust him again, or else simply allowing them to leave. 

 

“Do what you want,” Sirius told him bluntly, “I’m not losing my Godson again,” and with that Sirius started following the four boys, who were making their way down the hallway. 

 

Frank let out a long sigh. “Dawlish, see to Moody, I will handle this situation,” he said, not waiting for his fellow Auror to respond before following after Sirius and the four boys. 

 

Up ahead of him, the boys had reached a locked door, but that barely slowed them down, as Harry simply raised his hand and seemed to will it open. Frank wanted to know more about how they had gained such control of their magic; it was just yet another question that he had for these teenagers, though one that paled in significance compared to what he needed to know in order to find Neville and the other children.

 

“Harry, wait, please,” Sirius implored, as the boys moved out of the Auror’s secure corridor and out into the rest of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

 

“No, we are leaving,” Blaise answered before his mate had a chance to, turning to glare at Sirius. The other three boys stuck close to Blaise, Harry’s hand linked with his mate’s. Frank took his chance to catch up and approached where Sirius was standing. “You attacked one of us,” Blaise snapped.

 

“No. Moody did,” Frank pointed out calmly. “I understand why you are upset, but he does not speak for all of us. Please do not let one man’s actions spoil everything.”

 

“What is a ‘Death Eater’?” Draco asked from where he was still being held closely to Theo’s side. 

 

“Where did you hear that?” Frank asked, though he already knew the answer, and it just fueled his anger towards Moody and his actions. 

 

“That man kept accusing me of being one,” Draco said waving his hand in the direction of the door they had just come through. “If I’m going to be accused of being something, I think it’s only fair that I know what it is,” Draco said. 

 

“You are absolutely right,” Sirius said before Frank had the chance to. “Let’s go back in there, and talk this over.”

 

“No,” Theodore snapped, moving so that Draco was mostly hidden from these men. “We gave you a chance. I don’t care if you share that man’s opinion or not; you still allowed him near Draco,” Theodore said. He didn’t raise his voice, but the low even tone he used still seemed to portray just how angry he was at them, at the whole situation, and how much effort it was taking for him to not go back and take his anger out on the man who had attacked his mate.

 

“We understand,” Frank said. 

 

“No, I don’t think you do,” Theo interrupted again. “Against our better judgment, we trusted you. We didn’t have to stay; we didn’t have to answer your questions,” Theodore said, not taking his eyes off Sirius or Frank, even when he felt Draco shifting behind him, and felt Blaise step up a bit closer, to act as another shield between their mates and these men. 

 

“We know,” Sirius said. “We haven’t given you any reason to trust us at all.” 

 

“Well, actually, you did let us get some sleep, without splitting us up,” Harry interrupted, wanting to point out that these people hadn’t been completely unreasonable. Despite everything he still liked both Sirius and Frank; they seemed genuine to him. “And they brought us food,” he added looking imploringly at his friends and mate. “Maybe they’ve given us some reason.”

 

“Yes, Harry’s right,” Sirius exclaimed happily, grinning at his godson. “Please give me another chance. I’ll keep you safe.”

 

“Give US another chance,” Frank said. “I have spent the past fifteen years looking for you, and the other missing children.”

 

“But we’re not missing, we’re right here,” Harry said with a small smile. 

 

“But you have been missing,” Sirius said. “We didn’t know where you were before. There were no clues. We tried everything we could think of to find you.” Sirius sighed, turning his attention away from Harry for a moment. His godson seemed willing to give them another chance. It was the other three that still looked apprehensive about the idea. 

 

“What can we do to convince you to stay?” Frank asked. 

 

“We don’t want to stay here,” Blaise said, not willing to stay in a building with the man who had scared Draco so badly, nor where they were so vulnerable. “There are too many people, and while you two might be okay, we have been attacked twice since we arrived here,” Blaise pointed out. “So there is nothing you two can do to convince us to stay here.” 

 

Frank and Sirius exchanged a look; the two of them understood why the four boys wouldn’t want to stay here, and be in close proximity to the people who had already attacked them. “What if,” Frank spoke, turning his attention back to the four of them again, “we found you a place to stay? It was never our intention to make you stay in the Ministry to begin with,” Frank informed them. 

 

“And where would you have us stay?” Draco asked, still not willing to trust these people, but this conversation was reminding them that, if they did leave the ministry, they really had nowhere else to go. 

 

“The original plan was to return you to your parents,” Frank said. 

 

“The only acceptable course of action, Longbottom,” a sneering voice said from little way behind the four teenagers. 

 

The four children turned, Blaise and Theo pushing Harry and Draco behind them once more as they spotted a very tall, slender man, with long, white-blond hair. The man was holding a long cane that clicked against the floor as he took several steps towards them and the teenagers took several steps back, in the direction of Frank and Sirius. 

 

“What are you doing here, Malfoy?” Sirius asked, coming to stand next to Theo, wanting to be ready if Lucius made a move for his son. As much as he didn’t believe that Lucius was involved with the children having gone missing, he wasn’t about to turn Draco back over to this man, at least until they were certain and he had no choice. That the man had arrived here within hours of the children only added to his concerns.

 

“I am here to collect my son and heir,” Malfoy declared pompously. “Draco, come,” he commanded.

 

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Draco told him, holding onto his mate and sticking close to Theo’s side. Though he couldn’t help but stare at the man who was claiming to be his father. He could hear in his mind all the accusation that the awful Auror had thrown at him, claims he had made about this man, and it made him even more wary. Not that he would go anywhere without Harry, Blaise and Theo anyway.

 

“Do not be so absurd,” Lucius said dismissively. “I am the head of the Malfoy family, and you are my son, you will do as you are told. Your mother is waiting for us to return home, and it has been more than fourteen years since she last saw you...”

 

“Then she can wait a while longer,” Theo interrupted, not even willing to consider letting his mate go anywhere with this man, even if he was Draco’s father or not.

 

Lucius glanced at Theodore, raising a blond eyebrow at him. “And you are?” 

 

“Theodore,” Theo said, “and Draco is not going anywhere with you,” he insisted. 

 

“That is not for you to decide, boy” Lucius narrowed his eyes, studying the boy in front of him for a moment. Just looking at him, Lucius knew that this was Corvus’ missing son, and while he was now debating taking Theodore with him as well, he was not pleased with teen’s obvious attitude. “This is a family matter and you have no say in what happened with regards to my son, as you are neither his parent or guardian.”

 

“He might not, but I do,” Sirius said before Theo had a chance to speak again. Sirius suspected that Lucius would not react well to Theo declaring himself Draco’s mate. “As Draco’s closest blood relative, and given the ongoing nature of the Auror investigation, I have been assigned his guardian.” 

 

Frank recognised the bluff for what it was, but knew it was their only hope to keep this man from taking Draco home with him. “As I was about to explain before I was interrupted,” Frank said, speaking up as he approached Blaise’s side, and looking at the teenagers, “we would like to keep you in protected custody while the investigation continues.”

 

“And we wouldn’t stay here?” Blaise asked, as Harry leaned against his side. 

 

“No, you would be staying at my house,” Sirius said. Frank gave him a stern look, knowing that Sirius was simply trying to protect his godson. It was against policy, but there was nothing he could say about it without giving that away to Lucius. 

 

“You can not keep me from my son,” Lucius sneered, narrowing his eyes at Sirius, who was looking a little bit smug. 

 

“Actually, you have been suspected of Death Eater activity in the past, though that was never proven. And because I am personally involved with the investigation involving these four, I can, in fact, keep Draco away from you,” Sirius said, purposely not looking in the direction of Frank, knowing his fellow Auror was not happy with him. Sirius was also reluctant to break eye contact with Lucius. 

 

“We shall see about this,” Lucius said, his hand tightening on his cane. He looked toward Draco, wanting to get a good look at his son before he left. He took his time, taking in his son’s appearance; Draco looked like a true Malfoy in many regards, with perfectly straight blond hair that reached his shoulders, and refined features that made him look much like Lucius himself, but the boy was much smaller than he had expected for fifteen. 

 

Lucius’ view of Draco was blocked, when Theodore stepped in front of the blond teen. Lucius nodded once, looking at Sirius and Frank. “Gentlemen, I will be seeing you again shortly,” Lucius said, walking forward, and forcing the small group to part and let him pass as he went straight to the head Auror’s office. 

 

“I REALLY hate that man,” Sirius growled, once Lucius was out of sight. 

 

“What the bloody hell were you thinking!” Frank snapped rounding on him. “You have custody of them? They are staying at your house? Accusing him of being a Death Eater? Do you even realise how far you’re pushing it right now?” 

 

“Yeah, but it got rid of him for now didn’t it?” Sirius shot back. 

 

As the two of them started having a heated discussion about what Sirius should, or should not have said, Blaise rolled his eyes at the adults. He looked to Theodore, who was having a quiet conversation with Draco, most likely about the man who had wanted to take Draco away. Even without the interference of Sirius and Frank, there was no way Draco would have been taken away, Harry alone would have seen to that. 

 

Blaise turned his attention to his own mate, who had actually been oddly quiet through this whole exchange. Harry was leaning against him, which wasn’t out of the ordinary, as Harry liked being close to people, but there was something different this time. Harry seemed to be using Blaise as more of a way to stay on his own feet, instead of just wanting to be close. 

 

“Harry?” Blaise asked in quiet concern, which turned to worry when Harry didn’t immediately look up at him. “Harry? What’s wrong?” Blaise asked a little louder, knowing now that there was indeed something wrong with his mate. He was too quiet and too still.

 

“Don’t feel so good,” Harry said quietly, leaning more completely against his mate’s chest as Blaise tried to get his attention. Blaise tilted his chin up until their eyes met, and Harry could see the worry written all over Blaise’s face. He gave him a shaky smile. 

 

“Talk to me, Harry,” Blaise requested, needing to know what was going on with him so that he could help. “Are you hurt?” he asked, wondering if he had somehow missed his mate getting injured, though he had no idea when that might have happened.

 

Harry shook his head, but stopped when that seemed to make him feel worse. “His magic just felt so wrong,” Harry explained. 

 

Blaise sighed, nodding his head in agreement. He had felt it too. He wasn’t sure how to describe it, but there had been a wrongness that surrounded Draco’s father, and he supposed that Harry must have felt it even more strongly because it was quite clear that Harry was reacting very badly to it. 

 

“Blaise...I really don’t feel good,” Harry complained, and Blaise wrapped his arms around Harry, holding him as gently as he could. He knew there wasn’t much he could do for his mate at the moment, other than hold and comfort him. 

 

“Alright it’s settled then!” 

 

Blaise glared over at Sirius, as the man’s loud obnoxious voice caused Harry to flinch. “What’s settled?” Blaise asked. 

 

“You four are going to be staying with me for now. Frank is going to deal with all the legal shit about that, so we can leave and get you boys settled,” Sirius said. “How’s that sound, Harry?” he asked, reaching out to put his hand on Harry’s shoulder, only to have Blaise smack it away. 

 

“It would be best if you don’t touch him right now,” Blaise said, not trying to sound rude, but knowing he came across that way. 

 

“Blaise? What’s wrong with Harry?” Draco asked, moving out of Theodore’s arms to approach Harry, taking care not to touch him. 

 

“I don’t feel good,” Harry explained again, turning his head slightly so that he could see Draco. 

 

“You’re sick?” Sirius asked with wide eyes. “Should I go get a healer?” 

 

“I think any ‘healer’ you could provide might make him worse,” Blaise said, not like the idea of a wizard casting any of their corrupted magic on his mate, and knowing that Harry would react badly to it. “It might be best if we get him somewhere to just lay down for a little while.”

 

Sirius nodded quickly. “Alright, we can leave now. Follow me,” Sirius said, only glancing behind him to see that the teenagers were going to follow him. 

 

Blaise lifted Harry up, being careful not to jostle Harry around to much as he carried him. Draco followed next to them, shooting worried glances toward Harry as they hurried to keep up with Sirius as the man lead them over to a large fireplace. 

 

“I thought you said we were leaving?” Draco asked. 

 

“We are. The easiest way to get to my home from here is by floo,” Sirius explained, taking down the jar of floo powder that was kept next to the fireplace. 

 

“Floo?” Harry asked, blinking at Sirius, then at the fireplace. 

 

“You’ve never traveled by floo?”Sirius asked, then shook his head deciding it wasn’t an important question that needed answering. “Nevermind. Okay, it’s simple; we just throw floo powder into the fire and tell it where to take us,” he explained, “but maybe I should take you, just in case.” 

 

“We aren’t all going to fit in there,” Theo pointed out, frowning at the fireplace. Draco looked entirely unconvinced by the whole suggestion too. 

 

“Hmm, no, you’re right,” Sirius said, thinking it over, “I suppose I will have to take you two at a time. So who wants to go first?” he asked enthusiastically. “You want to get Harry out of here, so maybe I take him first.”

 

“And I’ll go with him,” Draco offered, and Blaise’s arms tightened around Harry protectively, not liking the idea of his and Theo’s mates being out of their sight. “I have more healing knowledge, and will be able to do more to help Harry than the two of you right now.”

 

“Draco’s right,” Harry said quietly, cuddled up in Blaise’s arms. “And I trust Sirius; he will come right back for the two of you,” he assured his mate, hoping that Blaise would trust his instincts.

 

“Fine,” Blaise said, gently setting Harry back on his feet. “But I don’t have to like this,” he insisted. 

 

“Thank you,” Harry said, leaning against Blaise again, before Draco gently pulled him away, wanting to get his friend somewhere he could lay down. “Let’s get this over with,” he said, knowing that he was probably not going to enjoy this experience.

 

“Sure thing, kiddo,” Sirius said, tossing his handful of floo powder into the flames, which turned instantly green, much to the surprise of the four boys. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he promised Blaise and Theo, as he stepped into the green flames and gestured for Harry and Draco to join him. 

 

\---------------x

 

Remus let out a long sigh as he leaned back on the sofa, closing his eyes in a vain attempt to get a little more rest; he had been awake since the early hours of the morning, when Sirius had been called into the Ministry because of an emergency. Remus had attempted to get back to sleep, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself from worrying about why Sirius had been called in so suddenly. As a result, Remus had been awake since, unable to get back to sleep despite how tired he was. 

 

The fireplace suddenly lit up, and Remus sat up straighter, watching as Sirius appeared, with two young boys. Before Remus could even question him, Sirius had gently pushed both boys off to the side, away from the fireplace. 

 

“Hey, Remus, watch these two for a minute. I got two more I gotta bring through,” Sirius said, and without any more explanation, Sirius was back through the floo, leaving Remus to deal with these two unknown children. Looking at the two new occupants of the room, Remus was alarmed to see the smaller of the two had practically fallen to the floor and was now being violently sick. 

 

“Are you okay?” Remus asked, once the boy seemed to have stopped. 

 

“Does he look okay to you?” the blond boy snapped, narrowing his eyes at Remus, before turning his attention back to the other boy, who was taking slow deep breaths. The blond was whispering softly to him. “It's okay, Harry. Do you think you can stand?” he asked, waiting for the boy called Harry to nod his head before helping him stand slowly. 

 

Remus watched as Harry leaned against the blond. “Draco, room is spinning,” he mumbled, looking as though he wouldn’t be able to stay standing without the help of his friend. Remus moved forward to help, but the blond, who was apparently called Draco, led Harry over to one of the chairs in the room. Harry let out a small sigh as he sat down. 

 

“Here’s some water,” Remus said, having grabbed a glass and filled it with a spell, wanting to do something to help the petite boy, who was still looking quite unwell. 

 

Harry blinked, looking up at the new voice that had spoken, and stared into the shocked amber eyes. Harry smiled politely as he took the glass of water offered him. “Thank you,” he said, his voice sounding raspy. He sipped it slowly before closing his eyes and resting his head back against the chair as the room slowly stopped spinning. 

 

Remus couldn’t help but stare at the teen in front of him, hardly daring to believe what he was seeing. This boy, this Harry, was the spitting image of James, as he had been when they had been about twelve. Though if this really was his friend’s son, and given that it was so clearly Lily’s eyes that had looked up at him a few moments earlier, he was sure it was, this boy was actually fifteen.  

 

“Quit staring,” Draco snapped irritably, feeling even more protective over Harry than usual.

 

“Sorry. I don’t mean to stare; it’s just…” Remus trailed off, not sure how he should explain himself, when the fireplace flared to life again, and Sirius stepped through with two other boys. 

 

“Calm down Draco,” Harry said, opening his eyes to smile at his friend, as Blaise hurried over to his side, crouching down next to him to check he was okay. “It’s not like he’s going to eat me,” Harry said, turning his attention then to Blaise and smiling at him. “Hi,” he greeted his mate. 

 

“Hi,” Blaise greeted back with a smile, reaching up and running his hands through Harry’s hair. “Are you feeling any better?”

 

“Mmm, yes?” Harry said. 

 

“You don’t sound to sure about that,” Theo said in concern, as he too came to stand next to Harry. 

 

“I was sick, and the room is still spinning.” Harry frowned, considering it for a moment. “If I don’t move too much I feel okay,” Harry explained, hoping to clear some of the worry on his mate’s face. 

 

“It’s the magic combined with the trip over here,” Draco explained, “all we can do is wait. He should feel better soon.” Draco sounded confident as he spoke, though he had no experience with any of this. 

 

Remus and Sirius stood off to the side, watching the four teens as they seemed to be in their own little world right now. “Sirius, what is going on?” Remus asked, turning his attention toward the man next to him. 

 

“It’s a LONG story,” Sirius sighed, not at all sure where to start. When he had been called into the Ministry, he really hadn’t expected to be coming home with four teenagers in tow. He was aware that ideally it was the sort of thing he should have discussed with Remus first, even if there really hadn’t been a chance. 

 

“Then you best start talking,” Remus said sternly. “Who are these boys?” 

 

“I thought Harry would be easy enough to recognise,” Sirius said, unable to hold back a grin as he looked at Remus. 

 

“So you’re certain that it really is Harry? James and Lily’s Harry?” Remus asked hopefully, and Sirius nodded in confirmation, still grinning. “Where was he?” 

 

“That would be the long story,” Sirius told him. Remus just waited impatiently. “He showed up in the middle of the Ministry with those three, and I had to get them all out of there before Lucius Malfoy managed to lay claim to Draco. Apparently the little blond over there is his kid.”

 

“That’s Malfoy’s boy?” Remus asked in surprise, turning to get another look at the blond who had arrived with Harry. He could see the resemblance now he was looking for it; though, like with Harry, the boy looked too small.  

 

“If you two are going to stand there and talk about us, you might want to include us in the conversation,” Theo said, eyeing the two adults. 

 

“Or take it somewhere else,” Draco said, though he didn’t look at them, his focus mainly on Harry, who was still looking as if he were going to be sick again. 

 

“Harry?” Blaise said in concern, putting a hand on his mate’s arm. 

 

“I feel sick again,” Harry said, closing his eyes tightly. “Blaise...they’re too loud,” Harry whimpered, leaning toward his mate slightly. Blaise stood up quickly, leaning down so he could lift Harry out of the chair and hold him close, before claiming Harry’s seat, holding his mate on his lap. 

 

“Ignore them, Harry. Just focus on me,” Blaise said, rubbing his hand gently over Harry’s back. 

 

“Is he alright?” Remus asked, looking at Harry with concern. He glanced at Sirius, who was frowning slightly at the teenagers; Remus was a little surprised that his boyfriend was reacting so calmly to Harry being cuddled on the other boy’s lap; Sirius had grown up a lot in the last decade, but he still tended to be a bit on the protective side. “Do you need a potion or anything?” he offered, as he returned his attention to Harry.

 

“No, I just need Blaise,” Harry muttered, his eyes closed as he remained cuddled up to his mate. “And for you two to stop feeling so many things,” he added with a small wry smile.

 

Blaise chuckled. “I don’t think that is possible for anyone to do, Harry,” the teen said, leaning down placing a gentle kiss on Harry’s forehead. 

 

“Well, they better try; they’re making Harry feel worse,” Draco said, turning an accusing look toward Sirius and Remus. 

 

“I’m not exactly sure what it is you think we’re doing,” Sirius said. 

 

“Harry is Empathetic,” Theodore explained. “He is not used to feeling so many people in such a short amount of time. Between all those people at that Ministry place, and now what you are feeling, it’s overwhelming him,” Theodore said, not really fond of the idea of sharing so much with these two men, who were still strangers to them. But Theodore also knew that if they were going to be staying here, then they would find out sooner or later anyway. 

 

“So...he can feel what we feel?” Sirius asked. 

 

“Mostly just really strong emotions,” Harry explained, “but both of you are feeling a LOT of strong emotions right now...and it’s making my head spin.” 

 

“Sorry,” Remus said hesitantly. “It’s just that we are reeling a little from suddenly having you back in our lives. In a good way,” he added quickly, “ we are very glad to have you back, but it is a lot to process. Like your friend said, we can’t really just stop feeling.”

 

“Mate,” Harry corrected, forcing his eyes open to look at Sirius and Remus, the latter of which looked confused. “Blaise isn’t just a friend; he’s my mate.”

 

“You’ve called him that multiple times since you arrived,” Sirius said. 

 

“That’s because people keep getting it wrong,” Draco said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Blaise and Harry are mates. Theo and I are mates,” Draco explained. 

 

“What do you mean by ‘mate’?” Remus asked, looking at the blond boy curiously. 

 

“Is there another meaning of mate?” Draco asked Theo quietly, not wanting to look like an ignorant fool in front of these people he barely knew. Theodore shook his head, as he only knew of one meaning for the word. Draco looked back at Remus. “I don’t know how else to explain it,” he admitted.

 

“It means that we belong together,” Harry said, feeling better the longer he stayed close to Blaise. “We were bonded as mates when we were ten.” 

 

“Ten?!” Remus and Sirius both exclaimed in shock, sharing a look with each other. “What exactly did this bonding entail?” Remus asked cautiously, hesitating, not really sure how to ask the question he needed the answer to. “Did you have to… be intimate?” 

 

“No,” Blaise assured him, sounding rather amused. He then turned his attention to his mate, who was looking up at him questioningly. “He means sex,” Blaise explained, and Harry nodded in understanding before looking over to Remus. 

 

“No, sex is for making babies,” Harry told him factually, while Remus and Sirius stared at him in stunned silence, “and Draco and I don’t want babies yet. We are only fifteen.”

 

“Harry,” Remus began, not sure where he should start. After all, this was not the first conversation he imagined having with Harry. “It is fine if you want to be with your… mate…” 

 

“No it’s not,” Sirius interrupted, giving Harry and Blaise a stern glare. “You’re fifteen. No sex.”

 

Remus threw his mate a pointed look and Sirius fell quiet. He kind of agreed with his boyfriend, but it was really besides the point he was trying to make. “It is fine if you want to be with your mate, but I don’t think you have to worry about having babies,” Remus explained. 

 

Harry tilted his head curiously. “Why not?”

 

“Because you’re a boy, you can’t have babies,” Remus said, even more curious now than before to know exactly where Harry and the other three boys had been all these years, and what exactly they had been taught. 

 

“Can to!” Harry argued, “Draco and I are like girls; we can have babies,” Harry said, looking over to Draco for confirmation. 

 

“We can have babies,” Draco agreed, looking back at Remus and Sirius. “You two are mates. Can’t one of you have babies?” Draco asked. 

 

“No,” Remus said, frowning as he tried to figure out how he could explain something like this to the confused boys. Remus felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to look at Sirius, who just shook his head. 

 

“We can come back to this discussion late., I don’t think it’s all that important, since whether you can have babies or not, you already said you weren’t going to, so it’s pointless to keep talking about it,” Sirius said with a small grin. 

 

“Imagine that; we actually semi-agree on something,” Blaise said with a smirk, before turning his attention back down to Harry. His mate seemed to be feeling better now, but was still clinging to him, and looking tired. 

 

“Alright then,” Sirius said, “do you four want a tour of the house? Or would you just rather see where you’ll be staying for now? Harry looks like he could use with a good rest,” Sirius said, eyeing his godson. He was happy that Harry no longer looked like he was going to be sick, but he was worried about how pale and tired he still looked. 

 

“Some rest first I think,” Blaise said before Harry had a chance to answer. He suspected his mate’s curiosity would make Harry ignore his need of sleep, and sure enough when Blaise looked down, Harry was pouting up at him. “I am sure Sirius will be more than happy to give you a full tour later.”

 

“Of course,” Sirius assured him. “I’ll be right back,” he promised Remus, who nodded curtly and gave him a look that said there would be more explanation required when he got back. Sirius nodded in agreement, before turning back to the boys. “This way,” he told them heading out into the hallway. 

 

Remus had always said they didn’t need such a big house, but Sirius suddenly felt rather vindicated, knowing that they had enough spare rooms to house all four of the boys. Besides, he had liked it from the moment he saw it, with it’s large windows and big open feeling of space; a complete contrast to Grimmauld Place where he had grown up. He had been so excited by the place that he had bought it right away, and delighted in moving himself and Remus into it soon after. He might have bought it but it was very much their home, and it pleased him greatly to know that James’ little boy was here now too. 

 

“This place is so pretty,” Harry commented as Sirius led them up the stairs. “So much better than the Ministry. You can see all the trees here,” he said, looking longingly out of the large windows that looked out on the fields, garden and woodland outside. There wasn’t another house in sight. 

 

“Don’t mind who has which room, but this is the first one,” he said as he pushed open a door close to the top of the stairs. “And there’s another one here,” he told them, opening the room next to it. 

 

There were six bedrooms in all, including Remus and Sirius and a bathroom. The reading room overlooked the slightly overgrown back garden, while the study, which Sirius pointed out to them, was the only closed and locked door, as he requested that they stay out of there. Sirius had, however, assured them that they were welcome to explore the rest of the house. 

 

The boys had tried to say they didn’t need a room each but Sirius had been adamant. In the end they had chosen, Harry proudly declaring that he had found the one with the bounciest bed, and Draco snottily insisting that his was the most comfortable. Blaise and Theo both simply picked rooms next to their respective mates.

 

“I think tomorrow I can take you boys out to get some new clothes,” Sirius said, standing in the doorway of the room that Harry had chosen. 

 

“Why? I have clothes already,” Harry pointed out. “And we even remembered to bring some extra too. I think Theo has them,” Harry said, looking as if he were feeling much better than he had before. 

 

“Still, it would be best if we got you more… normal looking clothes,” Sirius insisted. 

 

“Our clothes are normal,” Draco said from behind Sirius, as he moved passed him into Harry’s room, sitting on his best friend’s bed. “You’re the one’s who are wearing weird clothing, it seems like it would be really itchy,” Draco said, remembering the feeling of Sirius’ robes, when he and Harry had flooed over here with him. 

 

“Regardless, you can’t go around in wizarding places wearing those… tunics, you’ll stand out like a sore thumb,” Sirius insisted, not quite sure what to make of their clothing. “And we really want be avoiding drawing attention to you because otherwise we will get questions that we are not ready to answer.”

 

“As reluctant as I am to admit it,” Theo said, as he too stepped past Sirius and into Harry’s room, joining Draco on the bed, “Sirius is right. It would probably be advisable to try and blend in for now. At least until we work out what we want to do next.”

 

“Well I want to find my parents!” Harry said excitedly, as Blaise joined them too. Sirius’ expression fell.

 

“Your parents?” Sirius asked, surprising himself with how calm his voice sounded. 

 

Harry nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! That’s one reason why we all came here. Though… I hope my parents aren’t like Draco’s father was…” Harry said. 

 

“They… no, Harry, your parents aren’t like that,” Sirius said. “Well, you boys get some rest, I need to go and talk with Remus,” Sirius said, and left the room quickly.  

 

“That was weird,” Blaise said, staring at the empty doorway where Sirius had been standing a moment before. “Wasn’t it?” he asked, glancing at Draco, who nodded his agreement.

 

“Did I say something wrong?” Harry asked, looking genuinely worried that he had said something that upset Sirius. He liked the man a lot. He was fun to be around, and had done nothing but help them since they had arrived in the wizarding world. 

 

“I’m sure it wasn’t you, Harry” Theo said, reassuringly. 

 

“But-”

 

“No, Theo’s right,” Blaise said, moving over to Harry so he could wrap his arms around his mate. “If something you said did upset him, there is no way you could have known. It is not your fault,” Blaise insisted. 

 

“But-” Harry tried to speak again, only to have Blaise put a hand over his mouth. 

 

“Keep arguing, and I will have to take drastic measures,” Blaise said seriously. Harry narrowed his eyes mischievously at Blaise, before biting his hand. “Ow! Harry, you little brat!” Blaise said, pulling his hand away, and looking at where Harry had bit him. His mate had hardly left a mark, but it had done the trick. 

 

Harry hurried over to Draco, pulling his friend off the bed and away from Blaise, using the blond as a human shield as he peaked out from behind him to look at Blaise. 

 

“Shouldn’t have put your hand near my mouth then!” Harry giggled, sticking his tongue out at Blaise. Harry let out a squeak ducking behind Draco as a pillow came flying toward the two of them, missing Harry, but hitting Draco in the head. 

 

“Hey! Leave me out of this!” Draco snapped turning to glare at Blaise, only to have another pillow thrown at him. 

 

“Theo! Do something!” Draco whined. 

 

“You’re the one who is acting as Harry’s shield,” Theo shrugged, clearly amused by the turn of events. 

 

“Looks like we’re on our own, Draco,” Harry said, picking up the pillows that were on the floor near them, handing one to Draco.

 

“I guess so,” Draco said, taking the pillow looking at Theodore, who raised an eyebrow at him. 

 

“What do you plan on doing with that?” Theo asked. 

 

“Absolutely nothing,” Draco said, smirking when he saw the blanket on Harry’s bed start hovering, a moment later both Blaise and Theo were wrapped up in the blanket, and Harry was laughing hysterically at the shouts coming from their mates. 

 

“Run, Draco!” Harry said, still holding his pillow as he darted out of the room, Draco close behind him also laughing. They heard the shouts of Theo and Blaise, and a moment later Draco heard them following. 

 

\--------------x

 

Remus had retreated to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea, though he was debating on spiking it with something a bit stronger. He could hardly believe it. Harry was actually here, after missing for nearly fifteen years. 

 

“Hey, Remus,” Sirius said, as he came into the kitchen. Remus turned to look at his friend and lover, giving him a shaky smile. 

 

“Are the boys resting?” Remus asked, though his question was answered not by Sirius, but the sound of thundering feet overhead. Remus glanced toward the ceiling. “I’ll take that as a no.”

 

“They’re supposed to be resting,” Sirius stated, as he shook his head. “But I suppose it’s also a good thing that they’re comfortable enough here already that they’re playing games,” he said, moving further into the kitchen, going to the cupboard where they kept the firewhiskey. 

 

“I was debating that myself,” Remus said, eyeing the bottle as Sirius opened it; Sirius didn’t even bother getting a glass as he just took a decent swig. “Sirius?” 

 

“Harry wants to meet his parents,” Sirius said, holding the bottle out for Remus. 

 

The werewolf only hesitated a moment, before taking the bottle, though he had a little more class than to just drink straight from the bottle. He, instead, poured some into his cup of tea before handing the bottle back to Sirius. “What did you tell him?” Remus asked. 

 

“What could I tell him?” Sirius asked, “Sorry, I know you came here to find your parents and all that, but they’re dead.” Sirius ran a hand through his hair. “I couldn’t tell him that.”

 

“He’s going to find out, sooner rather than later,” Remus pointed out before taking a large gulp of his drink. 

 

“I know!” Sirius growled, “I know, Remus.” Sirius took a deep breath and calmed himself down. “I didn’t lie to him though; I just didn’t tell him anything,” Sirius admitted. 

 

“I suppose that is better than getting his hopes up.” Remus moved over to stand next to Sirius, leaning against him so he could rest his head on the slightly taller man’s shoulder. “Maybe we can pull out some old pictures, show him what they looked like at least, and explain to him what happened,” Remus said. 

 

Sirius smiled, wrapping his arm around Remus’ waist. “What would I do without you?” He smiled. 

 

“Probably go completely mad,” Remus said, smiling back at him.

 

“Well, you’re just going to have to stick around forever, and make sure that doesn’t happen,” Sirius told him emphatically, his smile turning into a grin, before he leaned down and gave Remus a quick kiss. 

 

“I suppose we should contact Dumbledore, and get an Order meeting underway,” Remus said, taking another sip of his spiked tea. 

 

“What for?” Sirius raised an eyebrow. 

 

“What do you mean ‘what for’?” Remus questioned. “Harry shows up in the Ministry, after missing for fifteen years, and you don’t think it’s important that we mention this to the rest of the Order, who have been looking for Harry and the other missing children.”

 

“Oh, right, yeah, I see your point there,” Sirius said. “I suppose I better get in touch with Dumbledore then. I don’t think Frank will have had the time. He’s a bit busy cleaning up the mess I left him with at the Ministry,” Sirius chuckled, removing his arm from around Remus, putting the firewhiskey bottle down and hurrying to the floo before Remus could question him about what he had done. 

 

Remus made to follow Sirius, but a loud screech from upstairs caught Remus’ attention, and so draining the last of his drink and discarding the cup on the side, he stepped through into the living room and strained to hear what was going on. The happy giggles sounded out a few seconds later, and he felt reassured that the boys were just playing. He was certainly not used to having other people in their home, least of all four young teenage boys.

 

Trusting that things were okay upstairs for the moment, he followed after Sirius, who he found with his head in the fireplace. Remus settled himself on the sofa across from the fireplace, taking a moment to enjoy the view of his boyfriend, while Sirius was in that position; though he resisted the temptation to grope him a little, knowing that the headmaster was on the other side of the floo call. 

 

It was only a few more minutes before Sirius ended the call, the flames returned to normal. Getting to his feet, Sirius spotted Remus and smirked at him knowingly. “Dumbledore is going to make the relevant calls and they will be here in the next half an hour or so.”

 

Remus nodded his head, holding out his hand. Sirius took it, allowing himself to be pulled forward and down for a brief kiss before taking a seat as close as possible to Remus’ side. The two of them relished the moment of calm, knowing that their house would soon be full of order members, all of them trying to give their two knuts. Though the sound of running feet above them brought a smile to both their faces.

 

“How long do you think we have before someone comes in and tries to take Harry from us?” Remus asked, not really expecting his boyfriend to have the answer to that, but needing to acknowledge that their claim on him was somewhat tenuous.

 

“I am more worried that someone will take the other boys,” Sirius admitted, and Remus looked confused. “I have seen how they are with each other, and if they think they will get separated, they will disappear again; I’m sure of it. And with Lucius already having tried to lay claim to Draco, I doubt Corvus Nott will be far behind; though he has his other little boy for an heir now,” Sirius sneered disapprovingly. It bothered him endlessly that some of these families seemed to view their children as nothing more than a means to an end.

 

“You never did tell me how you managed to keep Malfoy from getting his son,” Remus said. 

 

“I did some very fast talking, while accusing him of being a Death Eater,” Sirius shrugged, “told him some nonsense about protection for the boys and on-going investigations. Frank will figure out how to make it legit.”

 

“Sirius…” Remus said with an exasperated sigh. He didn’t even know where to start, but he had to say something. Sitting up, he turned enough to be able to look Sirius in the eye. “I can’t believe you sometimes. You KNOW how dangerous it is to go around accusing Malfoy of such things without proof. Like it or not, he has more influence than you do, and could land you in serious trouble.”

 

“I had to say something to shut the pompous prick up,” Sirius argued back, pushing himself to his feet. He felt it was a bit much Remus criticising him, when it was only his quick thinking that had protected the petite blond upstairs from being dragged off to Death Eater central. “And it bloody worked, remember!”

 

“For the moment,” Remus pointed out, knowing that it would never be so easy as just taking the boys for themselves. While they did have some claim on Harry, with Sirius being his godfather, they had no rights at all to Theo, Blaise or Draco. “What happens when Malfoy or one of the other parents decides to go to the Minister, or asks for an enquiry or something?” 

 

Sirius shrugged his shoulders, not actually having an answer for that, just knowing that he was going to do everything it took to protect Harry and the other three boys that seemed to come with him as a package deal. “I am sure Frank will manage to botch the paperwork enough that we don’t need to worry,” he said dismissively. 

 

“As brilliant as Frank is, not even he is going to be able to make you taking four children, all of whom have been missing for well over a decade, and bringing them into our home part of correct Auror procedure,” Remus snapped impatiently, getting to his feet too.

 

“He could make it work. It’s not like we’ve ever dealt with a mass kidnapping before,” Sirius snapped back. “All of this is pointless anyway, the boys are here now, and that’s what matters. I’m not letting anyone take them away from here either,” Sirius insisted.

 

Remus narrowed his eyes at Sirius, but before anything more could be said, the fireplace flared to life before Dumbledore stepped out into their living room. The Headmaster took a moment to take in the scene in front of him. 

 

“Am I interrupting something?” Dumbledore asked, looking from Remus to Sirius. 

 

“No,” Sirius said, though kept his eyes on Remus for a moment longer before looking at Dumbledore. “You’re not interrupting anything; we just finished talking,” Sirius said, and could practically feel Remus still glaring at him, and he knew that they may be done talking for now, but the conversation was far from over. 

 

“Good, good,” Dumbledore smiled, “The others will be coming through shortly.”

 

“It might be best if we hold the meeting in the kitchen,” Sirius suggested, smiling as he glanced upwards at the sound of more laughter, followed by someone running around again. 

 

Dumbledore also glanced upward, smiling as well. “Yes, perhaps there will be less distractions in there,” Dumbledore agreed, looking at Sirius as the man lead the way to the kitchen. 

 

Remus remained behind, closing his eyes and slowly counting to ten as he calmed himself down. He still had a lot more that he wanted to say to Sirius, but arguing with him during the Order meeting wouldn’t be practical. When Remus was sure he had his anger in check, he made his way to the kitchen.

 

It wasn’t long before some of the other Order members started arriving, and Sirius threw up a silencing spell over the room, not wanting to draw the boys downstairs just yet. Fabian, Gideon and Arthur all arrived, Tonks and Kingsley not along after them. Bill showed up last, just as they were just getting ready to start the meeting, as they had a limited time due to the fact that most everyone was here during their lunch break from work. 

 

“Thank you all for coming at short notice,” Dumbledore said happily as he got to his feet. The other members stopped in their conversations and the few who were still standing found chairs around Remus and Sirius’ thankfully large kitchen table. “I am sure a few of you will have already heard, we have some rather exciting news! One of the missing children, Harry Potter has been found” he told them. 

 

Remus and Sirius shared an exasperated look at the headmaster’s dramatic flare as excited though confused chatter broke out, everyone demanding answers at once. They certainly had a lot to discuss, and so Dumbledore tried once again to calm the gathered guests so that they might talk about what they might do next.

 

\-------------x

 

Harry held in a giggle as he heard Blaise chasing after Draco, the two of them running right past the place where he was currently hidden. Their pillow fight had grown rather out of hand, and he was currently tucked into some kind of cupboard in the hallway.    
  


He listened carefully for a few seconds, but it seemed to have gone quiet for the moment, so he poked his head around the door, looking both ways down the corridor. It was quiet, none of the others in sight. With his pillow tucked safely under his arm, Harry quickly ducked out of the cupboard and down the set of stairs next to it. No one would think to look for him downstairs, as their game of pillow fight hide and seek had so far been kept upstairs between their own rooms. 

 

Giggling again smugly, feeling rather pleased with himself, Harry quickly glanced back up at the landing above; he was glad to see that no one was there, and that his genius plan hadn’t been foiled. He moved promptly out of the hallway, through the closest door, and found himself in a large living room, bathed in bright winter light. There was no one around, so he took a moment to take in the sight. 

 

The room was just as beautiful as the rest of the house, the large open window let in the afternoon light, giving a view of the side yard that was covered in snow. Harry wondered if he and the others would be allowed to go outside and explore. 

 

“Harry!?”

 

The sound of his name being called by Blaise caught his attention, and suddenly Harry was on alert once more. He focused, listening carefully so that he might be able to work out what the others were up to. 

 

“Do you think he went downstairs?” Draco asked, and even from that distance, Harry could hear the suspicion in his friend’s voice, and knew he was busted. 

 

Wanting to look for somewhere else to hide, Harry all but charged through the next door; however, he came to a rather abrupt halt as he realised the room was full of people. Nine faces turned to look at him at once. He paused, looking behind him and around the room in general, realising that there was magic being forced to contain the sound. He shifted a little uncomfortably because of it, but turned back to the people, who were still staring at him. 

 

“Hi,” he greeted, giving them a smile, his pillow still clutched to his chest.

 

“Well there’s no doubting that he’s James’ boy,” a large, darker skinned man down the far end of the table stated, and there was a soft mumbling of agreement. 

 

Harry tilted his head curiously at this man, blinking as a white feather fell in his line of sight; reaching up Harry ran his hand through his already disheveled hair, causing more white feathers to fall to the floor around him. Giggling softly Harry shook his head, in an attempt to rid himself of even more feathers. 

 

“Harry,” Sirius said, unable to keep the smile from his face as he watched his godson, “I thought you and the others were resting.”

 

Harry stopped what he was doing to look at Sirius. “Oh, we were going to, but then the pillow fight started, then it turned into a pillow war, and now I’m hiding from the others!” Harry said, his smile turning into a full grin. 

 

“Was this a war against the pillows?” Sirius asked, glancing down at the pillow that he was sure had had more feathers in it before Harry had gotten hold of it. 

 

“No, first it was me and Draco against Theo and Blaise, but then Draco turned on me. He exploded a pillow all over my head!” Harry said, gesturing to the feathers on himself and the floor as evidence of this. 

 

“Well, I hope you got revenge for that,” Sirius said, chuckling. 

 

“I will later; my revenge has to be carefully planned out,” Harry said.

 

“It is always wise to plan ahead,” an elderly man spoke, gaining Harry’s attention now. 

 

Harry stared at the man, eyeing him up and down for a moment. He was smiling kindly and had the biggest, whitest beard that Harry had ever seen. Harry thought that his bright purple clothes were rather fun, but he couldn’t remember having seen anyone as old as this before. “Wow, you look older than Arnaldo,” he said softly. 

 

Before there could be any reply to Harry’s comment, the door burst open again behind Harry, causing him to jump and turn around in surprise. A grin spread across his face when he saw grinning when he saw his mate standing there. 

 

“Look Blaise, I met lots of new people,” Harry said enthusiastically, practically bouncing as he hurried to Blaise’s side, taking hold of his arm and pulling him toward the table of strangers. 

  
Blaise looked a little unsure of himself as he raised his free hand in greeting. “Hi,” he said to the group of unknown people, raising an eyebrow at Harry when his mate let out a small giggle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next update for this story will be in four weeks instead of three, as real life has been kind of consuming all of our time lately, but we are hoping to get back to writing more soon, and then hopefully we can get back on our usual schedule.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**  
  
_20th December 1995_  
  
Out of every Order meeting he had ever gone to, Fabian had to admit that the one he had just left was by far the most interesting. It had been somewhat of a surprise, receiving the summons from Dumbledore, asking him over to Remus and Sirius’ house. Though the Order was still active, they hadn’t had a meeting in quite some months due to the fact that Voldemort had been very quiet over the past few years.  
  
He was still reeling from the shock of actually meeting young Harry Potter. The boy really did look so much like James had, though definitely more petite than the man had been. But more than that, it had left Fabian with such a feeling of hope, for the first time since children started disappearing, they had the first real proof that they were still alive. Which meant that they might yet find Ron and be able to return his nephew to Molly. Right now, however, he needed to speak with Severus.  
  
“Severus?” he called out as he stepped out of the floo at Spinner’s End. He didn’t wait for a response before making his way through the house in search of the man in question. “Severus?” he said again, as he poked his head into the kitchen, smiling at the sight of the man sat at the table, a cup of tea in hand.  
  
Severus said nothing as he looked up at Fabian, giving him a pointed look while taking a sip from his teacup. The man remained expressionless as Fabian approached him, but placed his tea back on the table. Fabian, however, was unperturbed, grinning before leaning down to press a kiss to the scowling lips.  
  
“I have news,” he told Severus, as he took the seat next to him and picked up Severus’ tea for himself, finishing it off.  
  
“I gathered, given you know how dangerous it is to pay me a social visit unannounced,” Severus said, taking the now empty tea cup, and standing to go refill it. Though he didn’t sit back down, and instead turned to face the redhead sat at his table. He raised an eyebrow at the smile on the other man’s face. “If you are waiting to play a guessing game, Lily is upstairs; she has more patience for your childishness than I do.”  
  
Fabian chuckled. “Love you too, Severus,” he said. “But this news might be best told to Lily as well, should I call her down here myself?” Fabian asked.  
  
“No, I will go get her,” Severus said, setting his cup on the counter before moving to leave the kitchen. Fabian grabbed his arm as he walked by, standing up from his chair so that he was more on eye level with Severus.  
  
“It’s not going to be bad news,” Fabian assured him.  
  
“I had guessed that already, from your dopey grin,” Severus said, gently pulling his arm away from Fabian, reaching up he cupped the freckled cheek. Leaning in, he pressed his lips against Fabian’s, kissing the other man insistently, saying more with the kiss, than he could ever really put into words. “I will be right back down with Lily,” Severus said.  
  
He made his way up the stairs and wasn’t entirely surprised to find Lily on the landing, leaning against the banister at the top of the stairs, looking somewhat amused. Severus scowled at her, knowing that she had likely been able to hear the two of them.  
  
“Five years together, and you still struggle to tell the man you love him,” Lily said, letting out a dramatic sigh, as though exasperated with him, but the grin on her face belied her teasing mood.    
  
“If you knew he was here, you should have come down yourself, instead of making me come up here and get you,” Snape said.  
  
“It’s been a month since you’ve seen him. I thought you would want at least a moment together before I invaded,” Lily said. “Though, if you would like more than a moment, I’m sure I can excuse myself to the back garden for an hour or two.”  
  
Severus gave no verbal response, but Lily saw something flash in his eyes and her grin widened knowingly. “Fabian is waiting for us,” Severus said, turning to walk back downstairs. Lily’s soft laughter was heard as she followed him.  
  
“Lily!” Fabian greeted when they came into the kitchen. “Looking as lovely as ever, still giving the prison guard a hard time?” Fabian asked, accepting a hug from her.  
  
“Of course! Being held captive gets boring after a while,” Lily said, as she moved over to take a seat on the far side of the table, leaving two seats across from her for Fabian and Severus.  
  
“I don’t know; I’ve never complained when Severus has held me captive,” Fabian said with a grin, as he moved the cups of tea he had made over to the table.  
  
“You said you had news,” Severus interrupted their conversation before it could go any farther. Though he didn’t show embarrassment, it was easy for Lily and Fabian to see that he was not a fan of their chosen topic of conversation. The fact that Lily was technically a prisoner of Voldemort’s was a very tense subject, and if the Dark Lord ever discovered that Fabian or anyone in the Order knew that Lily was here, she would be removed from Severus’ home.  
  
“Right!” Fabian said, taking his seat next to Severus. “Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus called a meeting, because four teenage boys showed up at the ministry in the very early hours of this morning.”  
  
“And what does this have to do with us?” Severus questioned, not really having any interest in Ministry business, and even less in teenagers causing trouble; he got quite enough of that already, teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.  
  
“Because one of these boys was Harry,” Fabian said, his eyes fixed on Lily.  
  
“My Harry?” Lily asked quickly, her voice full of pleading hope. For fifteen years, she had held out hope that her son was out there somewhere, alive and well; she missed her little Harry terribly, but she just wanted to know that he was okay.  
  
“He looks just like James,” Fabian told her as he nodded. “Such a bubbly little boy, with great big green eyes. He was having a pillow fight when I was there.” Lily gave a bittersweet laugh at that.  
  
“Where were they?” Severus asked curiously. He knew that the Order had suspected Voldemort was behind the kidnappings, but he knew otherwise. “Where have they been for the last fifteen years?”  
  
“That’s still not entirely clear, but there was mention of Fae involvement,” Fabian told them, both Severus and Lily looking surprised at that. “Hopefully Harry and the three other boys will tell us more as they come to trust Sirius and Remus.”  
  
“Ron?” she asked, not able to form more words at the moment, but knowing how much Fabian missed his little nephew, who had been taken not long after Harry.  
  
Fabian shook his head sadly. “No, he wasn’t with them, but we now have hope that he is alive,” he said. “The other three boys that were with Harry, they were never reported missing, which makes us think that there are a lot more missing children than we originally thought,” Fabian explained.  
  
Lily’s eyes widened slightly. From the numerous talks she had had with Narcissa over the years, she knew that there were more missing children than the Ministry knew about. It was a strange sort of friendship that she now had with Narcissa; the woman hadn’t been all that bad, if you could look past her snooty, superior attitude. “Who are the other boys?” Lily asked, her voice soft, and still full of hope.  
  
“Elladora Zabini’s son,” Fabian said. “Though it would make sense if the Ministry didn’t know about him, as she doesn’t always live in England,” he explained. “Then there is Theodore Nott, and Draco Malfoy; everyone thought that Malfoy had shipped his kid off to Durmstrang; and given the way the Notts have always shown off their six-year-old son as their heir, it was assumed that Theodore had died. According to Sirius, there’s no record of these boys having gone missing,” Fabian said, taking a sip of his tea.  
  
“It makes sense though, with the amount of Death Eaters going in and out of Malfoy Manor, the last thing they would have wanted is for the Aurors to invade their home,” Lily said, knowing for a fact that that had been one of the reasons.  
  
“It’s still their kid though,” Fabian said, sounding angry that someone would keep their child’s disappearance a secret, just so they wouldn’t get caught doing anything illegal.  
  
“I’m not defending the decision; I just know that there is more to the Malfoy’s story than what people assume,” Lily snapped, her own anger rising.  
  
“I still don’t understand that way of thinking. My nephew went missing, and I saw Molly and Arthur do everything in their power to try and find him. I have stood back and watched Alice lose what little sanity she had left, trying to undo whatever was done to her the night Neville was taken,” Fabian snapped, and Lily flinched feeling the full weight of guilt hit her when Alice’s name was mentioned.  
  
“We would all do anything for our children,” Lily said guiltily. She knew the only reason Alice had lost the last bit of sanity had been because Voldemort himself had gone after her, Lily having given the location to Narcissa. Lily hadn’t known what happened to Alice, not until she had come to live with Severus, and Lily never knew what to feel more guilty about, the fact that she had betrayed a friend, or the fact that she would have done it a hundred times over if it had any chance of locating her son.  
  
“I think that is partly what Sirius and Remus are worried about, that the other parents will take the Zabini, Malfoy and Nott boys from them,” Fabian told her, and that earned him a surprised look from the other two.  
  
“Black and Lupin are taking care of them?” Severus asked, with bemusement. “Are we sure that is wise?”  
  
“Sirius has legal rights to Harry already, since he is his Godfather, and Lily is still presumed dead,” Fabian explained. “Sirius also has rights to Draco, as he is a relative.”  
  
“I do not see Lucius standing back and allowing that, once he knows his son is alive,” Severus said skeptically.  
  
“That’s the kicker, he apparently already does. It took some fast talking on Sirius’ part apparently, and I guess Frank is shuffling paperwork, but as far as we know, for right now, Sirius is the legal guardian of all four boys until the investigation is finished, and we have all the missing children back,” Fabian said.  
  
“I know I don’t get out much anymore, but that can’t be legal,” Lily said. “Unless things have changed drastically in the past fifteen years.”  
  
Fabian snorted. “It’s not, not entirely, but since when would that stop Sirius,” he pointed out. “I think there are some Auror procedures for protection of victims that Frank will be able to twist to our benefit for awhile at least. It will take quite some time for Lucius to get a claim on his son through the Wizengamot anyway.”  
  
“But Harry is definitely okay?” Lily asked, her heart aching to go see her little boy. The only thing that was keeping her from demanding that Fabian take her to him right away was that she trusted Sirius and Remus to protect Harry.  
  
“Absolutely,” Fabian promised earnestly, grinning broadly at the thought of the energetic teenager he had met earlier.  
  
“You cannot go to him,” Severus told Lily, sounding genuinely remorseful.  
  
“I know,” Lily said with a weary sigh. She knew it would put them all in danger if it was discovered that she had left Snape’s home. and she still didn’t dare let Sirius and Remus find out that she was alive, knowing that they would try to rescue her.  
  
“I will try to bring you a picture soon,” he said, knowing that it must be hurting Lily badly to not be able to go to Harry.    
  
“Bring one of Draco too, for Narcissa,” Lily requested, wanting that same small relief for her friend as well. She knew it was for the best that Lucius couldn’t get his hands on Draco for the moment, but Lily still felt bad that Narcissa was also being kept from her son.  
  
Fabian looked unsure, but nodded his head in agreement, knowing that Lily and Narcissa had formed an unlikely friendship over the loss of their sons. Besides, Narcissa was one of the few people who Lily ever got to see. “I will see what I can do,” Fabian promised, finishing off the last bit of his tea that had gone cold. He glanced over toward the clock that Severus kept in the kitchen. “Blimey, it’s gotten late. Gideon is going to kill me,” Fabian said, standing quickly.  
  
Severus also looked over toward the clock, frowning when he saw that it had already been two hours since Fabian had arrived unannounced. “It would be unwise for you to stay any longer. If any of this news has gotten back to the Dark Lord, I expect I will have more visitors this evening,” Severus said, looking back at Fabian.  
  
“I trust I don’t need to tell you to be careful,” Fabian said, as he squeezed Severus’ hand, knowing the man wouldn’t appreciate anything more than that in front of Lily. He chuckled at the stern, annoyed look that Severus gave him before turning to Lily. “It was good to see you again. I will get a picture to you when I can,” he promised.  
  
“You too, and I would appreciate that,” Lily told him with a wry smile, knowing that seeing a photograph of her son would be bittersweet.  
  
“I’ll try to be here for Christmas,” Fabian told Severus, before squeezing his lover’s hand once more, raising it to press a kiss to his knuckles. Fabian forced a smile as he turned and headed to the floo.  
  
Severus watched him go, letting out a small sigh as he stood to clear away the cups on the table. “You should return to your room. If I do get more visitors, it would be unwise for you to be wandering around,” Severus said.  
  
Lily nodded her head, looking at her friend sadly. There was no pity in her eyes, just understanding that she wasn’t the only prisoner in this house. “If Narcissa comes by, I would like to see her,” Lily said, standing up and leaving the kitchen to give her friend the space he needed right now. After all, she had her own things to be thinking about.  
  
\-------------x  
  
Sirius was glad that the Order meeting hadn’t lasted long, having been cut short due to the fact that people had to return to work. Dumbledore, however, had decided to stay so he could talk with the four boys.  
  
Though Sirius would have liked to have his house back, he did have to admit it was amusing to watch Dumbledore interact with the teens. Harry and Draco in particular, as the two of them seemed to be the more curious out of the four.  
  
“What’s this on your face?” Harry asked, as he all but climbed onto the headmaster’s lap, prodding at the frame of the man’s glasses. Remus looked a little horrified, and Sirius was struggling to hold back a laugh, but Dumbledore seemed unfazed.  
  
“These are glasses; they help me to see,” the headmaster told the curious boys, taking his glasses off his face and helping Harry to put them on.  
  
“But it makes it look fuzzy,” Harry declared, as he squinted through the old man’s half moon glasses. “Why would you want the world to look fuzzy?”  
  
Dumbledore chuckled deeply. “I have the eyes of an old man, Harry,” he explained patiently, as he took the glasses back and placed them back on, “the world is out of focus for me normally, and these glasses help restore clarity.”  
  
“Why don’t you just use magic?” Draco asked with confusion.  
  
“Ah, I believe that my magic does not work quite as yours does,” Dumbledore told him, with a soft smile. “Perhaps one day you boys will be able to show me how you use your magic, and help me restore my vision. Though I think they make me look rather wise and distinguished,” he added, winking at Harry, who giggled.  
  
“I’m the only one of us that was training to be a healer,” Draco said, “I never finished the training though. I wouldn’t know how to restore your vision, not without more training.” Draco frowned as he thought about that for a moment. “I don’t have anyone here who could finish teaching me either.”  
  
“There are plenty of healers here,” Dumbledore said, “I’m sure that one of them would be able to help you with your studies.”  
  
“Truthfully, I don’t think your healers could teach me what I need to know,” Draco admitted, glancing over his shoulder when he felt a hand resting there. He smiled at Theodore.  
  
“We will figure something out,” Theo promised, knowing how important it was to Draco to be a healer. It was something that his mate had always enjoyed and he didn’t want Draco to lose that now that they were in the Wizarding World.  
  
“Absolutely,” Dumbledore agreed enthusiastically. “I am sure that we all have much to teach each other. I, for one, would love to hear more about where you grew up,” he told them.  
  
“More questions?” Draco asked, and even Harry frowned at the idea of sitting and being asked more questions about where they had been.  
  
“Our last round of questioning didn’t exactly go all that great,” Blaise said, coming to stand next to Harry, gently pulling him back from Dumbledore.  
  
“Yes, I was informed that things got a little, disorganized,” Dumbledore said, “which is why I won’t be asking any questions. I will leave it up to you four to tell me whatever you want.”  
  
“You will?” Harry asked hopefully, a little surprised by that. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of the strange old man, but so far he had been kind and patient. Dumbledore nodded. The four boys shared looks with each other, silently debating with each other. It took a few moments before Theo spoke.  
  
“There might not be much we can tell you,” he said, wanting to make that clear from the start. “We have no way to get you into the city; we cannot take you to the others.”  
  
“And we will want to be sure that you will act in all our best interests before we even try to help you find them,” Blaise stated firmly. As much as he wanted to see their other friends again, he wouldn’t do so unless he knew that they would be safe.  
  
“Do we have to talk about where came from?” Harry asked hesitantly.  
  
“You don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to,” Remus said quickly, giving Sirius a pointed look. He knew how eager his boyfriend was to find out about where the boys had been, but it wouldn’t be any help to push them now, and have them shut down.  
  
“As Remus said,” Dumbledore agreed, with a nod towards the other man. “If you do not feel comfortable discussing your home, then you do not have to, my boy,” the headmaster assured them.  
  
“So, we could ask YOU questions if we wanted to?” Harry asked, sounding actually hopeful now.  
  
“I believe you already are asking me questions,” Dumbledore chuckled softly, “so I believe the answer to that question, would be yes.” Harry chuckled a little at that, giving Draco a nudge when the blond rolled his eyes.  
  
“So… would you tell us about our parents?” Draco asked cautiously. He didn’t like what he had learned about his father so far, but he was still keen to know about his mother, and he knew that the others wanted to know about theirs.  
  
“We can find that out for ourselves,” Blaise hissed at Draco. He didn’t understand why Harry and Draco were being so quick to trust this man, who they didn’t really know. They had already taken such a leap with going home with Sirius, and that had really been because there hadn’t been an alternative.  
  
“But if he knows something,” Harry began, but stopped when Blaise looked at him, and Harry could see the worry in his mate’s eyes.  
  
“I don’t think we will be asking any questions today,” Theo said, wrapping an arm around Draco’s waist pulling him close.  
  
“That is, of course, completely up to you boys,” Dumbledore said amicably, with a nod of his head. The four boys watched him suspiciously as though waiting for the other foot to fall, but Dumbledore continued to just smile at them kindly.  
  
“Surely you want to know something,” Sirius said impatiently. “I am sure we could find out anything you might need to know about your parents and families,” he added, keen to prove to these boys that they were on their side. And if Theo and Draco learned how dangerous their families were in the process, then all the better.  
  
“There is plenty that we want to know,” Blaise admitted. “There is also a lot that we need to find out out for ourselves,” Blaise said, not willing to elaborate more on the fact that they had grown up blindly trusting people, only to find out their whole lives had been a lie. Blaise wasn’t willing to take that chance, not when it meant that he, his mate, and friends would be the ones affected again.  
  
“I understand,” Remus said, deciding he should speak up again before Sirius let his emotions and mouth run away with him. “Maybe we should call it a day. Maybe have some dinner, and then all have an early night. Not sure about you boys, but I am exhausted,” he said with a smile.  
  
“I should be heading back to Hogwarts,” Dumbledore said as he stood up. “I will see you boys later,” Dumbledore said, saying his goodbye to the four teens, before looking at Remus and Sirius. “I will let you two know when the next meeting will be.”  
  
“Okay, you four, why don’t we figure out what you would like for dinner,” Remus said, herding the four of them in the direction of the kitchen.  
  
“Can we help cook?” Theo asked, sounding genuinely curious. In the city, they had always been provided with food, and though he knew in theory that someone prepared it, he had never been involved with or seen the process for himself.  
  
“I don’t see why not,” Sirius agreed, patting his hand on Theo’s shoulder. “I suggest we let Remus take charge thought,” he added, knowing that his boyfriend was definitely the better cook out of the two of them.  
  
“Really? You’ll let us help?” Draco asked, unable to keep the look of surprise off his face, while Harry just grinned widely and quickly followed Remus into the kitchen.  
  
“What can I do to help?” Harry asked eagerly, Draco coming in to stand next to Harry, also looking eager to help. Remus chuckled at the two of them, looking around the kitchen deciding how he should split the jobs up.  
  
“Alright, first make sure you wash your hands, and I will start getting things set up,” Remus said, going to the fridge he pulled out the chicken he had gotten for tonight's meal. “Sirius, grab the flour and olive oil for me,” Remus said, bringing the package of chicken over to the counter.  
  
“Hey now, I never said I was going to help,” Sirius said, sitting down in one of the kitchen chairs.  
  
“If you’re going to be in the kitchen, you’re going to help,” Remus said firmly, not sure he was really up to wrangling four teenage boys all by himself.  
  
“Alright then, you have fun,” Sirius said and he made to stand up quickly, but stopped when he saw Harry suddenly standing in front of him.  
  
“You’re not going to help too?” Harry asked, looking up at him with wide green eyes that were shining with what seemed to be tears.  
  
“I… well, I’m not a good cook, Remus is better at this than me and… aw, hell with it!” Sirius huffed. “I’ll help,” he said, storming over to the cupboard to get the items Remus had requested, missing the smug looks that Harry and Draco exchanged.  
  
“You two.” Theo shook his head, and returned to his own task of washing his hands.  
  
“If your hands are washed, you can start washing the chicken,” Remus said, placing the raw chicken on the counter next to Theo, who stared at it.  
  
“What is that?” he asked, his question gaining the attention of both Harry and Draco, who came over to see what Theo was looking at.  
  
“Is that dinner?” Draco asked, looking and sounding disgusted.  
  
“Yes, it will look better when it is cooked,” Remus said, chuckling at the boys’ reactions.  
  
“It’s all slimy!” Harry cried out as he touched the raw chicken, quickly wiping his hand on Draco’s arm.  
  
“Ew, don’t touch me!” Draco said, backing away from Harry quickly.  
  
Remus ignored the two of them for a moment as he showed Theo how to wash the chicken properly. That done, he turned his attention to Draco and Harry, who were running around the table. “If you two want to help, get over here,” Remus said, using the same tone of voice he used when he wanted Sirius listen to him. Remus smiled as it seemed to work just as well on Harry and Draco, as both boys stopped running around the kitchen, and came to stand in front of Remus.  
  
“In this bowl, you are going to crack four eggs,” Remus said, showing them what he meant and pointing out how they needed to be careful not to get any egg shell in with it. “And in this bowl,” he went on, balancing it on a set of scales, “I want you to put flour, until this needle reached here, where it says eight ounces.” Remus handed Harry the bag of flour and a large spoon, watching as Harry and Draco each eagerly started working on their tasks.  
  
Turning away from them, satisfied that their jobs would keep them out of trouble for a few moments, he went to show Blaise what he could do to help, by starting to cook the rice, while instructing Sirius to start the sour cream sauce.  
  
“Hey!” A shout from behind him had Remus turning around just in time to see Draco grab a handful of flour and throw it at Harry, apparently in retaliation for the flour that Harry had obviously gotten all over Draco.  
  
“No, no, no, no,” Remus said, hurriedly drying his hands, as they were wet from helping Blaise with the rice. However, in the meantime, Sirius had attempted to step in; this, however, backfired rather spectacularly when both Draco and Harry threw more flour over Sirius.  
  
“I’m going to get you little brats for that,” Sirius said with a laugh that Remus knew didn’t bode well. And sure enough, Sirius grabbed a handful of the flour that Harry had been weighing out and threw it back at the two boys.  
  
Draco and Harry both cried out, the bag of flour in Harry's hand as they both ran and hid behind Blaise. “Harry, Draco… what are you doing?” Blaise asked, sounding fondly exasperated with the pair of them. However, his expression suddenly turned scandalised when Draco suddenly took the flour from Harry, dropping a handful of flour onto Blaise’s head. “Draco!” he exclaimed, as he turned to glare at his laughing friend. Harry too seemed to be having trouble containing his amusement.  
  
“Get back here!” Blaise said, moving to chase after Draco, who was heading for Theodore next. However the blond was intercepted by Remus, the nearly empty bag of flour pulled from his hands.  
  
“Alright, that’s enough,” Remus said, his arm wrapped around a squirming Draco. “I think it might be best if you boys went and washed up, got on some clean clothes, and I can finish making dinner,” Remus said.  
  
“Uh-oh, best do as he says,” Sirius said, a grin on his face; he was rather enjoying seeing other people getting told off by Remus for once.  
  
“I’m including you in that as well, Sirius,” Remus said firmly, giving him a pointed look. He loved his boyfriend’s playful nature, but they really didn’t need to be encouraging the boys right now.  
  
“I wasn’t the one who started the flour fight,” Sirius protested, with an exaggerated pout, that made both Harry and Draco laugh again.  
  
“No, but you’re the one who kept it going, now, take the boys upstairs so they can get cleaned up. I will try and clean up the kitchen, and get dinner finished before it gets too late,” Remus said; he wasn’t truly annoyed, but it was going to take time to clean up the mess that they had left around the kitchen.  
  
“Alright, you heard the man, come on boys,” Sirius said, standing by the door and watching as Harry and Draco hurried out of the kitchen first, Blaies following a bit more slowly. He paused at the door to look back at Theo.  
  
“You coming too?” Blaise asked.  
  
“I want to stay in here and help,” Theodore said, looking to Remus silently wondering if that would be allowed.  
  
Remus blinked a little surprised that Theo wanted to stay in here with him and help finish dinner. “I still would like the help,” Remus said.  
  
Theo nodded, turning his attention to Blaise again. “I’ll stay down here, you go make sure Harry and Draco don’t get into any more trouble,” Theo said.  
  
“I make no promises,” Blaise grinned, ducking out of the kitchen, and Sirius followed after them.  
  
“Now, let’s see if we can get something accomplished, let's start by cleaning the kitchen,” Remus said, looking around once again at the mess.  
  
“Cleaning this up isn’t a problem,” Theo said, waving his hand at the mess, watching as it vanished. “That better?” he asked, looking back at Remus, who was staring at him now.  
  
“Yes,” Remus said, holding himself back from asking Theo about how he used magic so easily, “much.” Instead he gave the boy a grateful smile, and waved him over. Together the two of them focused on getting dinner finished, with Remus showing Theodore how to cook the chicken, and the sauce. By the time Sirius and the others came back down, dinner was being served and Theo was looking very pleased with himself.  
  
\----------------x  
  
While Remus and Theodore remained in the kitchen, Sirius took the other three boys upstairs to get washed up. This had proved, to be another adventure, as Harry had started yet another war with Draco, this one involving a lot of water. By the time this fight had been broken up, it was decided that it would be easier if they all just went and changed their clothes, rather than salvage their current outfits. Being covered with flour, and now water, was not an easy thing to clean up and Sirius had decided it was beyond his domestic ability and patience to do so.  
  
“This is what you always wear?” Sirius asked when Draco and Harry were both once again dressed in their Fae tunics, and loose linen trousers. It reminded him that he and Remus needed to find some more traditional, wizarding clothes for the boys.  
  
“Yep,” Blaise answered, as he approached, buttoning a waistcoat over a tunic of his own. “Is that what you always wear?” he retorted, looking up and down the man’s casual robes.  
  
Sirius scowled at him, and was just about to retort, when Remus called up the stairs. “Dinner’s ready.”  
  
Harry broke into a grin, and Sirius wrapped an arm over his godson’s shoulder, before the boy could go charging off so fast he would likely fall down the stairs in his haste. Keeping himself between Draco and Harry, Sirius lead them all back down to the kitchen table, where the food had been dished up already.  
  
Blaise took a seat next to Harry, but Sirius quickly sat on Harry’s other side, where he hoped to be able to stop any more antics from his godson. However, this proved to be unnecessary, as not even half way through the meal, Sirius was startled to find the boy was practically falling asleep in his chair.  
  
“Are you okay, Harry?” Blaise asked, looked at his mate in concern. Green eyes blinked open, looking at Blaise and Harry nodded, giving his mate a sleepy smile.  
  
“I’m just really tired,” Harry said with a yawn.  
  
“It’s been a long day,” Remus said, smiling fondly at Harry as the boy rubbed his eyes. “Why don’t you head up to bed?” he suggested, but Harry shook his head.  
  
“Waiting for Blaise,” Harry said, yawning again.  
  
Blaise smiled, pushing his plate away and standing. He moved around the table and pulled Harry to his feet, chuckling as Harry leaned against him. “Come on Harry. Let's get you to bed,” Blaise said, and tried to move Harry, only to have his mate let out a small noise of protest.  
  
“He’s not going to move, you’ll have to carry him,” Draco said, also standing from his own seat.  
  
“Come on, Harry, you can walk up a few stairs,” Blaise said, usually not one to complain about carrying Harry, but he too was tired, and the last thing he wanted to do was accidently drop Harry if he tried to carry him now.  
  
“I’m tired,” Harry complained, leaning more against Blaise.  
  
“Why don’t you three go on up ahead, and I’ll carry Harry,” Sirius offered, standing and moving to pick Harry up. Blaise wanted to protest, but Harry didn’t give him time as he turned toward Sirius. The man bent down and allowed Harry to wrap his arms around his neck before he picked up the tired boy, wrapping Harry’s legs around his waist.  
  
Blaise didn’t look to happy about the arrangement, but didn’t say anything as he turned to head out of the kitchen, pausing only for a moment to make sure Sirius was right behind him with Harry. Theodore and Draco followed after them.  
  
Sirius kept a secure hold on Harry as he walked up the stairs; he couldn’t help but smile to himself as he carried Harry into the room that the boy had chosen as his own, knowing that James and Lily’s boy was safe in his arms. He gently lay Harry down on the bed, tucked him in and kissed his forehead before he could stop himself.  
  
“Goodnight, Harry,” Sirius said softly, and he was rewarded with a tired smile from his godson.  
  
“Night,” Harry said. As Sirius stood back up, he turned and saw Blaise standing in the doorway, watching him.  
  
“You should get some sleep too, all you boys had a long day,” Sirius said, approaching him.  
  
“I’ll sleep when I’m ready to,” Blaise said, and even though Sirius was sure that Blaise wasn’t trying to sound rude, he could tell that the boy didn’t trust him. “I’ll stay with Harry until I do,” the teenager added when Sirius tried to lead him out of Harry’s bedroom.  
  
“Harry is perfectly safe here, anywhere in this house,” Sirius told him firmly, putting his hand on Blaise’s shoulder, “I would never have brought Harry here otherwise. If you’re not tired, why don’t you come back down and finish the rest of your dinner.”  
  
“I already ate enough, thank you,” Blaise told him, sounding overly polite. “And while I am certain you believe your wards sufficient, and trust that no one can reach us here, I am not taking that chance with my mate.”  
  
Sirius sighed, trying to let go of his frustration, lest he take it out on Blaise. “Then perhaps the two of us can look at the wards together tomorrow?” he suggested, wondering just what it was going to take to get these boys to trust them. He knew it had been less than a day since they had first met and that it was going to take time, but he knew that there was only so long they would have before Lucius Malfoy, Corvus Nott or Minister Scrimgeour started making demands.  
  
Blaise nodded curtly. “I am certain there are some improvements that could be made, particularly with Harry’s assistance,” he told him.  
  
“Errr, right,” Sirius mumbled, not really sure what to say to that. He hadn’t intended to allow the boys to play with the wards around his home, but he figured that he and Remus would cross that bridge when they came to it. “Have Theo and Draco gone to bed?” he asked, realising that he couldn’t see them.  
  
Blaise managed a smile, and nodded. “As you said, it has been a long day. I will check on them before I sleep,” the teenager added, and Sirius took that as a request to leave them be.  
  
“Then there’s nothing else you need from me?” Sirius asked a little sadly, wishing there was more that he could do to care for these boys, but realising that they were already far too independent.  
  
Blaise shook his head, and Sirius moved passed him into the corridor, heading for the stairs. “Sirius,” Blaise said, just as he reached the top of them, and the man turned back to look at him, “Thank you.”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Sirius said, breaking into a broad grin, before disappearing off down the stairs in a much better mood.  
  
“He really loves me,” Harry mumbled sleepily from the bed, and Blaise turned and hurried over, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. He smiled at the sight of Harry peering up at him through half-closed eyes. “Could feel it when he carried me.”  
  
“You’re his godson,” Blaise reminded him, brushing Harry’s hair back from his face. “I am glad that he cares for you,” he told his mate earnestly, knowing that Sirius and Remus truly would do what they could to protect them. While the Wizarding World was so alien to them, even if Blaise was reluctant to admit it, he knew they needed that help.  
  
“Me too,” Harry said, shifting to get more comfortable on his bed. Blaise smiled at him, reaching out to run his fingers through Harry’s hair. He continued watching his mate until Harry had fallen asleep, and pulled the blankets tighter around Harry before he stood up and left the room. He stopped to check on Draco and Theo as well, before heading to his own room; despite his words to Sirius, he was actually looking forward to a decent night’s sleep.  
  
\----------------x  
  
  
Draco shuffled in his sleep, cuddling up to his mate, his arm thrown over Theo’s chest, refusing to open his eyes to find out what it was that had disturbed him. He took a moment to once again register the oddness of Theo being there with him, the bed having been magically expanded to accommodate the two of them, with room to spare. Draco, however, was too tired to think on it too much, and so simply snuggled closer to Theo. He smiled when he felt his mate’s arm tighten around him.  
  
He had every intention of going back to sleep but a soft noise in the room had the blond boy letting out a small sigh. A moment later an all too familiar voice interrupted his attempt to go right back to sleep.  
  
“Draco,” the intruder whispered, right before Draco felt a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him.  
  
“What is it, Harry?” Draco asked, without moving from his comfortable spot, cuddled against Theo’s side.  
  
“Can I sleep here? With you?” Harry questioned, and Draco just hummed his agreement, anything that would keep his friend from disturbing his sleep any further. The bed dipped, and Draco felt Harry crawl under the covers behind him.  
  
“Thank you, Draco,” Harry said, sounding as tired as Draco felt.  
  
“Go to sleep,” Draco mumbled sleepily, feeling Harry shift around trying to get comfortable.  
  
“Who’s that?” Theo asked, sitting up to look at the extra person who was now lying in the bed with them.  
  
“It’s just Harry,” Draco said, rolling onto his back so that he could send a glare toward Harry, who was still attempting to get comfy.  
  
“I can see that,” Theo said, rubbing at his eyes and watching Harry curiously. “What’s he doing in here?” he questioned.  
  
“That is a good question,” Draco said, keeping his eyes on Harry.  
  
“Couldn’t sleep on my own,” Harry told him, pouting up at him, imploring his two friends not to send him away.  
  
“Blaise wasn’t sleeping with you?” Theo asked, a little surprised by that. He had not wanted to leave his own mate alone in the strange place, and he knew well how protective Blaise was over Harry.  
  
“No…” Harry said, fighting sleep and trying to gather his thoughts. “I fell asleep and he was there, but when I woke up, he was gone. I thought you and him had gone to share a room… so I came in here to sleep with Draco,” Harry said.  
  
Theo sighed. Blaise had his reasons, but Theo was unable to think of any explanation at that moment. “You are welcome to stay, Harry, but would you rather go sleep with Blaise?” he asked.  
  
“Can I stay?” Harry asked hopefully. “I don’t want to wake him.”  
  
“But waking us was fine?” Draco scoffed, his sleep well and truly broken now. He could read Harry easily, however, and could tell that he truly wanted Blaise. With a sigh, Draco turned to look at his mate. “Theo, can you go fetch Blaise? I think it might be the only way we will all get some more sleep tonight.”  
  
Theo chuckled at that, pressing a kiss to Draco’s temple before slipping out of his bed, which had apparently been taken over. He made his way out of the room, and down the corridor, to the room Blaise had selected. He had to smother a laugh when he found Blaise sprawled over the top of the covers, limbs hanging over both sides of the bed, his friend snoring softly. He moved around and crouched close to Blaise’s head.  
  
“Blaise, wake up,” he said, as he shook him gently. It didn’t take much and Blaise startled awake.  
  
“Theo?” Blaise muttered, sounding confused as he blinked blearily at his friend. “You okay?”  
  
“Your troublesome little mate has crawled his way into bed with mine,” Theo told him, his smile crooked.  
  
“And so you came seeking a place in bed with me?” Blaise asked teasingly. “I am so flattered, Theo.”  
  
“Hush, idiot,” Theo said with a laugh. “Now get yourself up, and come join the three of us. I fear Draco might be right, and that Harry will not let any of us sleep until you are there too.”  
  
“I was sleeping just fine before you woke me up, so it would have just been you three that got no sleep,” Blaise said, even as he sat up and stretched.  
  
“Consider yourself lucky, I had intended to send Harry in here on his own, and let you deal with him for the night,” Theo said, watching as Blaise stood up from the bed. “Out of curiosity, why didn’t you stay with him tonight?” Theo asked, raising an eyebrow when Blaise looked away from him, seeming to find a random spot on the wall quite fascinating at the moment.  
  
“Truthfully?” Blaise asked, looking hesitant as he glanced back at Theo. His anxiousness just piqued Theo’s curiosity further.  
  
“Unless you plan on lying to all of us, then yes, the truth would be appreciated,” Theo said, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for Blaise to give his explanation.  
  
Blaise sighed, pushing himself to his feet, knowing he needed to say something. “You love Draco, do you not?”  
  
“Of course,” Theo told him, confused as to what that had to do with the matter at hand.  
  
“You want him, to touch him, to be with him?” Blaise added, and Theo nodded, a look of understanding crossing his face. “Well, Harry is just so… innocent. Even with everything that Firo told him, I am sure he is not ready for more than the few kisses we have shared.”  
  
“And you worry you won’t be able to keep your hands off him,” Theo said, sounding far too amused for Blaise’s liking.  
  
“I KNOW I won't be able to keep my hands off him,” Blaise said. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he ran his hand through his hair. “Each kiss I’ve shared with him, the only thing that stopped me was the fear of being caught, knowing that Harry would also be in trouble with the Elders again,” Blaise explained.  
  
“I understand that temptation; there is a little thing called self control,” Theo said pointedly.  
  
“You don’t get it, Theo. You try kissing an empath, and see how much ‘self control’ you have,” Blaise huffed, watching as Theo’s eyes widened slightly in realisation.  
  
“Harry shields though,” Theo said, and Blaise shook his head.  
  
“Not when we’re that close,” Blaise sighed. “The very first kiss we shared, where we found those files about us, if Harry wasn’t so easily distracted…” Blaise trailed off shaking his head again. Theo wasn’t sure what he could say, so he reached out and placed a hand on Blaise’s shoulder in silent support while he thought of something he could say to help his struggling friend.  
  
“I think you are putting too much thought into this. We left the Fae city; we are not bound by their rules and laws anymore. If you and Harry want to be together, then be together,” Theo said. “You can’t keep Harry innocent forever, and you’re only hurting yourselves by trying.”  
  
“I still don’t trust myself to be alone in a bed with Harry at night, neither of us are ready for what might happen if we get carried away,” Blaise said.  
  
“So then just share a bed with Draco and me. It would be difficult for you to ‘get carried away’ with an audience,” Theo suggested.  
  
“Oh, so you want to watch?” Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend, laughing at the unusual sight of his friend’s blush. “You do!” Blaise exclaimed, still laughing.  
  
“I do not,” Theo argued, crossing his arms over his chest. “I just couldn’t help but think maybe you or Harry might like being watched.”  
  
Blaise shrugged his shoulders, still looking very amused. “For all I know, Harry would,” he admitted. “Not something either of us have much experience with.”  
  
“Let’s go, idiot, our mates are waiting,” Theo said, shaking his head at his friend in fond exasperation. Blaise just grinned at him, heading out into the corridor, and Theo hurried after him, throwing an arm over Blaise’s shoulder and guiding him into his own room where he had left Draco and Harry.


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thank you to Emily for beta reading this for us! After a couple months of craziness, things are finally winding down and we have managed to get a couple more chapters written, so we are set for two more updates following this one! In the meantime enjoy this chapter!

_21st December 1995_

Sirius was not a morning person. In fact, he didn’t consider himself to be a ‘person’ until he had had his first cup of coffee. Nothing could wake him up faster than that first cup; at least that’s what Sirius had believed for most of his life, until he walked into his godson’s room, intending to wake him up for breakfast, only to discover the bed empty. The sudden panic he felt upon finding his godson once again missing woke him up faster than any cup of coffee ever could.

Hurrying out of the room, Sirius went to the bedroom across the hall, the one that he knew belonged to Blaise. Looking inside, his panic doubled when he saw that this room was empty as well. Holding back the urge to call for Remus, Sirius moved to the next room, pushing the door open quickly and froze just inside the doorway.

There, lying on the enlarged bed were all four of the boys, sleeping the same way they had when they had stayed the night at the Ministry. Sirius’ shoulders sagged in relief, as he closed his eyes, trying to calm his racing heart.

“Are you okay?”

Sirius looked back at the bed, blinking when he saw Harry sitting up and staring at him with concern. He couldn’t help but smile at the boy. It was still hard to believe that Harry was actually here, that some of the missing children had been found, and with a bit of time and patience, it might be possible to bring the rest of the children home as well.

“I’m fine,” Sirius assured him. “I just came to wake you four up; it’s time for breakfast,” he said, and Harry tilted his head curiously. He seemed to be debating whether Sirius was telling the truth or not. After a long moment of the two of them staring at each other, Harry finally nodded.

“Okay, I’ll wake the others,” Harry said, a mischievous smile already playing on his lips. Sirius smiled back and slowly closed the door; though he was curious as to what Harry had planned, he didn’t want to be an accomplice.

Sirius was halfway down the stairs when he heard a shriek from one of the boys. Chuckling, he shook his head and continued on his way down to the kitchen. Sirius had just reached the bottom of the stairs when he saw Remus come running from the kitchen, a spatula still gripped tightly in his hand.

“I heard one of the boys scream,” Remus said, and Sirius laughed.

“Harry took it upon himself to wake the others,” Sirius said, knowing that after witnessing Harry’s antics the night before while trying to help prepare dinner, no further explanation was needed. Remus clearly thought so too as he let out an exasperated, though relieved, sigh, and turned to head back into the kitchen; Sirius followed him. “Smells good,” he commented, as he came to lean over his lover’s shoulder to see what Remus was making.

“Your coffee is on the table,” Remus told him and he hit the back of Sirius’ hand with the spatula as Sirius reached to steal a piece of bacon from the pan. “Coffee. Table,” he reiterated, “before you manage to burn yourself. Fingers in a hot pan, idiot,” Remus tutted under his breath as Sirius headed over to get his beverage as instructed.

Sirius chuckled and dropped himself into a chair, before taking a large gulp of his coffee; he wasn’t surprised to find that Remus had prepared it perfectly and had charmed it to keep it’s warmth.

“Was thinking we could maybe get Molly to bring her kids over later,” Sirius suggested, and Remus looked up at him, a curious expression on his face. “Thought the boys might open up a bit more if they had some people around closer to their age,” he explained.

Remus hummed, and nodded. “Maybe we could get them all helping to decorate the house for Christmas?”

“You’re suggesting we let Weasleys decorate our home?” Sirius asked with an exaggeratedly shocked gasp. Remus glanced up and gave him a pointed look. “Just imagine all the trouble those twins could get up to, particularly if they are teaming up with Harry.”

“You’re the one who just suggested that they come over.” Remus rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to what he was doing at the stove. “I think the damage done to our home would be significantly less if they all have something to occupy themselves with,” Remus said. “I also think more would get accomplished if we kept Harry and Draco separate; those two seem to cause the most trouble when they’re together.”

“Yeah, they definitely seem to be really good friends,” Sirius said.

“They remind me a lot of you and James,” Remus said, glancing back at Sirius when his boyfriend let out that barking laugh that Remus loved so much.

“No way, Remus,” Sirius said, grinning widely. “Those two boys have a LONG way to go before they reach the level of immature mischief that James and I achieved.”

Harry’s screeching laugh sounded out through the house, a second before he came charging into the kitchen, with Draco just on his heels.

“No running in the kitchen!” Remus told them sternly, as the two boys did a lap of the kitchen island and headed straight back out the door again. He turned back to his lover. “Immature enough for you?” he asked, and started unloading the bacon onto a plate.

“Not even close,” Sirius said with an impish grin, “but we will make true Marauders out of them yet.”

“I don’t think they need any encouragement,” Remus said as he started putting plates on the table and he turned to give Blaise and Theo a smile as the two of them came into the kitchen, far more calmly than their mates.

“If you mean Harry and Draco, then yes, definitely don’t encourage them,” Theo told them. Draco and Harry could still be heard running around the house, Draco threatening bodily harm once he caught up with the over-energetic Harry.

“Did you boys sleep alright?” Remus asked, watching as the two teens took a seat at the table.

“Well enough,” Theodore answered, glancing at Blaise, who looked as if he would rather crawl back into bed and sleep for another few hours.

“Here kid,” Sirius said, sliding over his cup of coffee toward Blaise. “This should help wake you up a bit.”

“Sirius!” Remus snapped, even as Blaise blinked at the cup offered him, picking it up and taking a sip.

“What? The kid clearly needs it more than I do at the moment,” Sirius shrugged unapologetically.

“If he gets as addicted to coffee as you are, I’m holding you personally responsible,” Remus said, glancing at Blaise, who was gulping down the drink, already looking a bit more awake than he had moments before.

Harry and Draco came running into the kitchen again, and Sirius chuckled as he watched the two of them make their rounds around the kitchen again. Standing quickly as Harry ran passed, Sirius caught the small boy around the waist and lifted him off the floor. “Alright, you two, that’s enough. Remus said no running in here and it’s time for breakfast. Draco you can get your revenge on Harry after you’ve both eaten,” Sirius said, setting Harry down in the seat he had just vacated.

“Help yourselves,” Remus said, as he joined them at the table, bringing the fruit bowl with him, glad he had done so when all four of the boys practically fell on it, Draco going straight for a pear, while Blaise and Harry both went for apples, and Theo picked a banana.

“You’re allowed some of this too,” Sirius told them, as he took a seat next to Harry and filled his own plate with bacon and scrambled egg, topping it off with brown sauce. “Remus is a great cook, I promise. You guys enjoyed dinner last night, didn’t you?.”

“Of course. And this looks great, but we are used to lots of fruit,” Blaise explained with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Eat whatever you like,” Remus assured them, “I am sure Sirius will managed to eat anything left anyway.”

“Hey!” Sirius said, pouting for a moment. “He’s probably right, though,” he added in a loud whisper to Harry, who giggled. Breaking into a grin, Sirius helped himself to a few more pieces of bacon. “So good,” he moaned as he stuffed half a piece into his mouth, The four boys all laughed at him, as Remus rolled his eyes, and Harry and Theo both helped themselves to some of what Remus had cooked, while both Blaise and Draco went back for more fruit.

\---------------x

The boys had been kicked out of the kitchen after breakfast and given permission to explore the grounds around the house today, though Theodore figured it was mostly to stop Harry and Draco from destroying the house on their first full day there. At least outside there was space for them to run around and cause mischief without actually breaking anything.

“I’d love to know where those two are getting all their energy,” Blaise said, leaning against the beam under the pergola, pulling his cloak tighter around himself to protect against the winter cold.

“Well they are only little, guess they have less of themselves to throw around,” Theo commented with a shrug, sitting down on the bench swing, which seemed to have been charmed to be resistant to the snow that was covering the rest of the garden. He watched as Harry helped Draco climb up into the large tree that was right next to Sirius and Remus’ house.

“They were never this bad in the Fae city though,” Blaise pointed out, forcing himself not to dart over to the tree and get ready to catch Harry; he didn’t think his mate was actually likely to fall, but he couldn’t help but worry.

“They have more freedom here,” Theo said, glancing towards his friend. Blaise looked at him questioningly. “In the Fae city, we knew what our boundaries were, what we could and couldn’t get away with.”

“And here the rules are an unknown that they are testing?” Blaise asked, looking skeptical. “Doesn’t that sound a bit… infantile?”

Theo shrugged his shoulders. “Perhaps, but you have to admit, it feels like there is suddenly a whole world of possibility that just wasn’t there before.”

“I suppose,” Blaise said, looking back to Harry and Draco, frowning when he saw that the two of them were already half way up the tree, and still climbing. “I, for one, don’t like the possibility that those two might break their necks,” Blasie pushed away from the beam he was leaning against, and went over to the tree. “Hey!” he called up to Harry and Draco.

“Are you coming up too, Blaise? Me and Draco are going to see if we can get onto the roof from up here!” Harry called down.

“I have a better idea,” Blaise said, resisting the urge to climb up after them and drag them down.

“What is it?” Draco asked, leaning down over a branch to peer down at him.

“Come back down and I’ll tell you,” Blaise said, sounding far calmer than he was feeling.

“Tell us, and maybe we’ll come down,” Draco chuckled, while Harry climbed up a bit higher.

“Draco.” Theodore stood up from the swing, moving to stand next to Blaise as he too looked up the tree at his own mate. “Why don’t you two come down, before Blaise has a heart attack from the mere thought of you two falling,” Theo said.

“Aww, are you worried about us?” Draco asked, before looking up at Harry, who was giggling. “Come on, we’ll climb up there later,” he said.

“Fine,” Harry huffed and climbed down a few branches until he was level with Draco again. “Race you to the bottom,” he grinned.

“No! No racing!” Blaise exclaimed. The only reply he got was laughter from the two in the tree as they began to quickly climb down, Harry making it a little more than halfway down before deciding to jump.

“Cheater!” Draco yelled, at the same time that Blaise cried out, moving forward quickly to catch Harry. Blaise’s arms wrapped tightly around his mate as the two of them fell to the ground, Harry landing on top of him.

“Nice catch,” Harry said, shifting to sit up, but Blaise still had his arms wrapped tightly around him, holding him close. Harry frowned, tilting his head up to look at Blaise, who was breathing deeply and had a terrified expression on his face. Harry suddenly felt guilty as he could now clearly feel how scared and worried Blaise had been about him.

“Blaise… I am so, so sorry,” Harry said, though Blaise kept a firm hold on him, seeming unwilling to let him go just yet.

“Harry, please just… just be more careful. Don’t do stuff like that,” Blaise requested, looking down at his mate, and Harry nodded.

“I was just playing around; I knew you would catch me. I never wanted to scare you this badly though,” Harry said, as he wiggled around a little bit until Blaise loosened his hold enough so that they were able to push themselves up into a sitting position. Harry shifted around until he was straddling Blaise’s lap.

“I promise I’ll be more careful,” Harry said.

“And no more jumping from trees,” Blaise said sternly.

“No more jumping from trees, until I’m a little closer to the ground next time and don’t have to rely on you catching me.” Harry smiled widely when Blaise rolled his eyes.

“I suppose I can accept that,” Blaise sighed.

“But really, thank you for catching me, Blaise,” Harry said, leaning forward and pressing his lips against Blaise’s. The sudden kiss catching the other boy by surprise, though he didn’t question it, tightening his arms around Harry again he took control of the kiss quickly. The world around them seemed to melt away, until the only thing that Blaise could focus on was Harry.

Harry wasn’t much better, his hands fisting in Blaise’s coat, allowing his mate to control the kiss as he was quickly swept away in the feeling of his and Blaise’s emotions. No longer registering, or even caring, that Theodore and Draco were standing a few feet away.

“Harry!” Draco exclaimed, looking scandalised by his friend’s behaviour. He had suspected that Blaise and Harry had shared a kiss before, but it wasn’t something that Harry had confirmed or denied.

Theo stood by and watched for a moment, and he could easily see what Blaise had been talking about. Neither Harry or Blaise seemed to notice that there was anyone else around, and as their kiss quickly grew more heated, Theo knew he had to put a stop to it. Kneeling down, he picked up a handful of snow and threw it at Blaise’s head.

Harry pulled away from Blaise quickly, blinking in confusion as he looked around trying to figure out what had just happened when he was suddenly pulled from Blaise’s lap.

“What was that?” Draco demanded, turning Harry so that his friend was now facing him.

“Uh… a kiss?” Harry answered, shaking his head as he tried to clear the fog that seemed to have taken over his brain for the moment.

“That was not just a kiss, Harry,” Draco narrowed his eyes, glancing in the direction of Blaise, who was accepting help up from Theodore. The two older boys shared a look with each other, and Draco got the feeling that he was missing something very important.

“So, Blaise, what was your ‘better idea’?” Theodore asked.

“My what?” Blaise blinked in confusion.

“You told Draco and Harry to get out of the tree, that you had a better idea that didn’t involve them climbing on the roof,” Theo reminded him.

“Oh, that,” Blaise chuckled. “Well, I was thinking we could take a look at the wards around this place. They don’t feel very stable to me, and if we’re going to be staying here a while, it would probably be better for us overall if we had some magic around that we’re more familiar with,” Blaise said.

“That is actually a pretty smart idea.” Theo sounded impressed. “We should start with feeling out the wards, see what it will take to fix them, or if we should just start from scratch,” Theodore said. Getting three nods of agreement from the others, they made their way through the snow away from the house and towards the edge of the property.

Harry shivered, moving closer to Blaise as they got near the wards. “I don’t think these can be fixed,” Harry said, his stomach turning with the feeling of the magic around them.

Theodore reached a hand out, placing it where he could feel the wards and shuddered. He could tell what this magic was supposed to be doing and, all things considered, they were pretty good wards, and would indeed keep intruders out, but the way they had been cast was all wrong, causing the magic to be warped and distorted, even weaker in some places.

“We’ll have to take these down,” Theo said, agreeing with Harry’s statement before; the wards were beyond fixing. “Their way of magic is so curious. They have the right ideas, but they seem to go about them in all the wrong ways.” Theo sighed, turning to face his friends and mate once more.

“We can question their use of magic later; let’s get this done. I’m feeling sick just being close to these wards,” Blaise complained, and Harry eagerly nodded his agreement.

“Alright, this property is pretty big, it might be best if we split up into pairs, each of us take a corner, work our way around,” Theo said. “Harry, Draco, you two take the other side of the house. Blaise and I will start work over here, we’ll meet back at the house when we’re done.”

“Sure,” Draco agreed. “Are we just replacing what is already here, done properly of course, or are we adding anything new?” he asked, knowing that they would need to be somewhat in sync for the wards that each of them were putting up to meld together properly.

“Let’s start with replacing these,” Harry suggested, just wanting to get it done already.

“We can go over them again later if we have to and add to them then, but I think these wards are going to take us long enough to get done,” Blaise said. Harry and Draco nodded, turning so they could head to their own corner of the house and start working.

“Make sure you two take breaks when you need to!” Theo called after them. Putting up wards was an easy task, and something that all of them had learned to do at an early age, but working around this foreign magic was going to take it’s toll on all of them. Harry and Draco called back an acknowledgement that they had heard him, before hurrying off.

\------------------x

Sirius coughed waving his hand in front of his face in a vain attempt to get rid of the dust that was invading his personal space. “Tell me again why we keep the decorations in the dusty attic?”

“As opposed to the nice clean one?” Remus retorted sarcastically.

Sirius, however, wasn’t really listening as he dragged a large box forward, peering in the top and pushing it off to one side when it didn’t contain what he was looking for. “And how does the attic collect so much dust to begin with?! We just cleaned this all out last year,” Sirius complained, crawling forward to reach the next one.

Remus simply rolled his eyes, knowing that Sirius mostly just liked to grumble. But he had to admit the dust did make this job rather more unpleasant, and so, pulling his wand out, he waved it to clear away some of the dust before he pulled out another box.

“Found one!” he declared happily, knowing that this would mean the rest of the boxes were close by. He loved their large home, but they had still somehow managed to gather enough stuff to completely fill it, including the vast attic space, which had boxes upon boxes upon trunks of stuff that one or the other of them couldn’t bear to be parted from. And at least one section of the attic contained boxes of things that both Remus and Sirius had managed to salvage from James and Lily’s destroyed house.

“Baubles!” Sirius exclaimed happily as he crawled over to his lover and inspected the contents of the open box. “Which means that this one is....” he said as he wordlessly summoned another box across the floor towards them, and hastily pulled it open, “...tinsel!”

“And this one is the lights…” Remus said, having opened another one, but his voice trailed off, the two men turning to look at each other in concern.

“You felt that right?” Sirius asked, already moving towards the hatch to get back down into the main part of the house.

Remus nodded firmly, following his lover as quickly as he could. “The wards?” he asked, wanting to make sure they were on the same page, and Sirius nodded before he all but jumped down the ladder. “Is someone attacking? Should we get Dumbledore.”

“You get Dumbledore; I’ll find the boys,” Sirius instructed, switching to Auror mode, hurrying towards the back doors out into the garden, trusting Remus to find the Headmaster.

Sirius’ heart was pounding in his chest. The wards didn’t feel like they were falling exactly, but someone was definitely tampering with them. Sirius suspected that the boys had something to do with it, given the conversation he had had the day before with Blaise about the wards, but he didn’t have time to stop and explain that to Remus, not if there was a slightest chance that someone really was trying to get in.

He burst out the large french doors at the back of the house, his eyes scouring the garden for any sign of the four children in their care. He had to force himself to remain calm when he didn’t immediately see them. Hurrying further out into the snow, he looked around again and still couldn’t see them, which just convinced him even more that they were the ones messing around with the wards. He didn’t exactly like the idea of them being so close to the edge of the wards, and wanted to go see they were up to; however, he was sure by now Remus had gotten in touch with Dumbledore, and the headmaster would have the whole Order on standby.

“Harry? Blaise?” he called out, hoping they might be close enough to hear. “Draco? Theo?” he waited a moment longer, but there was still no sign of them.

He huffed in frustration, knowing that it could take him a while to find them in the four acres they had around their home. Glancing around once again, just to make sure the boys weren’t hiding somewhere close by, Sirius hurried back into the house to fill Remus in quickly before he went to search for the boys and find out what they were doing.

Dumbledore was already standing in the sitting room when Sirius came rushing back inside. Remus looked over at his boyfriend, frowning when he didn’t see the four boys with him.

“Where are they?” Remus asked.

“I didn’t find them, but I am fairly certain that they’re the ones messing around with the wards. I wanted to tell you that before the whole Order showed up ready for battle. The last thing I want is to freak the boys out,” Sirius explained quickly. “I’m going to find them now, and find out exactly what it is they’re doing.” He turned to do just that when Dumbledore spoke.

“Do you want any help finding them?” he offered. “You do have a rather large yard, and it could take some time.”

Sirius looked back at the headmaster for a moment. “Thanks, but no, I’ve got this,” Sirius said with a small grin, and a moment later a large black dog was standing where Sirius had been a moment before. Not waiting any longer, and ignoring Remus calling after him, Sirius hurried back outside.

He didn’t want to waste time searching from one end of the property to the other, and while it had been a while since he had to search for anyone by sniffing them out, he was fairly sure he would be able to locate the boys faster this way. It still took a few minutes of searching, but Sirius managed to find a trail of footprints in the snow leading off in one direction. He started off in that direction, but soon stopped when he saw another group of footprints leading in the opposite direction.

Letting out a low growl, Sirius sniffed around for a moment. He easily picked up on Harry and Draco’s scent, and decided that it would be a good idea to find the two of them first. Even though he hadn’t known the boys for very long, Sirius already knew that Harry and Draco were more wild and curious than Blaise and Theodore. He could trust the latter two to stay behind the wards; however, if Harry saw something that caught his attention, Sirius wasn’t so sure his godson wouldn’t go wandering off the property.

Putting in an extra burst of speed, Sirius hurried through the snow, following the footprints as he scanned the surrounding area for the two boys. Sirius was glad that he had thought to transform before starting his search; he was much faster on four legs than he was on two, and it was because of this extra speed that he managed to find Harry and Draco quickly.

The two boys were standing close to the pond. Sirius felt relieved that he had found them easily enough; he was also relieved that they hadn’t tried to go out onto the ice, as Sirius wasn’t sure if the whole thing was frozen yet or not.

Harry and Draco were oblivious to the approaching dog, the two of them more fascinated by the frozen pond in front of them. Harry knelt down in the snow, watching with wide eyes as he pushed another object across the water.

“Give me something else, Draco,” Harry demanded, not looking back at his blond friend as he held his hand out waiting to receive whatever Draco would give him this time.

“Haven’t you tested this enough? No matter what you push out there, it’s going to stay on the ice,” Draco said, but picked up a stick and transfigured it into a small duck before handing it over to Harry. The duck let out a ‘quack’ as Harry took it and slid it across the ice.

“I know; I’ve just never seen so much ice in one place before!” Harry laughed as the duck slid further along the ice before coming to a stop. “Why do you think they let the pond freeze over though? What about the animals that use it? Or how do they get drinking water if it’s all frozen?” Harry asked, putting his hand on the ice and pressing down on it.

“If there is one thing we’ve learned in the day we’ve been here, it’s that wizards are weird,” Draco said. “Let’s stop playing and get back to work. I’m sure Blaise and Theo are nearly finished with their side of the house,” Draco said, bracing himself for what he knew was coming, and sure enough Harry turned toward him pouting.

“Don’t you want to see if the ice can hold us too?” Harry asked, Draco’s eyes went wide, and he shook his head quickly.

“No, I do not! And neither do you!” Draco snapped, crossing his arms over his chest as Harry laughed. “It’s not funny Harry, don’t even think about it. If you do, I’m leaving you here to go get Blaise!” Draco said firmly, which only caused Harry to laugh harder.

“I wasn’t being serious!” Harry said, grinning up at Draco. That’s when he spotted something large and black in the snow heading right for them. “Um… Draco,” Harry pointed, standing up slowly as Draco turned around to see what it was that Harry had seen.

“Don’t run,” Draco warned quickly, knowing that if one thing was going to make the animal attack them, it would be that.

“I’ve never seen one that big before… do wolves get that big?” Harry asked, reaching out and gripping Draco’s arm.

“Some of them can be,” Draco said, knowing that Harry had only really ever interacted with the cubs before.

“Draco,” Harry gripped tighter onto his friend's arm as the animal got closer.

“Don’t. Run,” Draco said firmly, “I can handle it if it gets too close.” Draco shifted slightly as the animal came to a sudden stop a few yards away from them. It started shifting around strangely, pulling back until it was standing on its hind legs, which were changing shape and extending, its front paws transforming into hands, all the fur vanishing except for the shaggy mess of hair left on top of the head.

“Sirius?” Harry stared at his godfather with wide eyes.

“Hey, kiddo,” Sirius greeted.

“What do you mean ‘hey’?” Draco demanded angrily. “What did you just do? What WAS that? What are you?”

“Woah, take it easy kid. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Sirius said, as he held his hands up. “That was my animagus form. Haven’t you ever seen anyone do that before?”

Both Harry and Draco shook their heads, still staring at him in surprise. “Were you really a wolf?” Harry asked eagerly, moving forward now that he knew that it was just his godfather. He was fairly sure that most of the Fae would never lower themselves to actually becoming a lesser creature.

“A dog, but yeah,” Sirius told him, throwing his arm over Harry’s shoulder. “So, do either of you want to tell me what you were doing to the wards around the house?”

“We were fixing them,” Harry said, grinning up at Sirius. “Can you turn into a wolf again?” Harry asked.

“Dog,” Sirius corrected, chuckling when Harry looked at him curiously. “I change into a dog, not a wolf. And maybe I’ll show you later,” he offered, ruffling Harry’s hair when the teen pouted, “but for right now, why don’t you show me what you boys were doing. The wards are here to keep us all safe, and if you tamper with them too much-”

“We weren’t tampering with them!” Draco huffed. “We were fixing them.”

Harry nodded his head, pulling away from Sirius. He grabbed his arm, pulling on it to get Sirius to follow. “Come on, we’ll show you. Really we were just fixing the wards. Yours were good, but there were lots of holes in it,” Harry said, pulling harder on Sirius’ arm until the man followed along.

Draco followed after, a bit more slowly, watching Sirius with a look of interest; seeing a dog turn into a human wasn’t exactly something you saw every day. He would definitely have to ask the man how he did it later. Draco had to wonder if it was something the man had learned because Remus was a werewolf, knowing that werewolves were better around animals than humans.

“...and now the wards feel all smooth,” Harry was declaring up ahead, grabbing Sirius’ hand and holding it against the wards. Sirius, however, just looked confused, and Draco strongly suspected that the man couldn’t feel what Harry was talking about. Draco was actually starting to think that these wizards couldn’t actually feel magic at all.

“Maybe we should see if Blaise and Theo have finished their half?” Draco suggested. “Then they can help us finish up this side, since you decided to stop and play with the ice,” Draco said.

“No, we can finish this up,” Harry said. “We’re almost done too, but maybe it will go faster if Sirius helps?” Harry suggested and looked up at Sirius.

“How can I help?” Sirius questioned.

“Simple. Me and Draco can put up our wards, and you can just take yours down as ours go up,” Harry said excitedly.

“I don’t know…” Sirius said.

“Harry asked you to help, which means you don’t have much of a choice. You’re going to help,” Draco said. “Let’s just get this done. It’s getting cold out,” the blond complained, turning to start putting up the wards again. Harry grinned happily and turned to help Draco, pausing when he noticed that Sirius had made no move to start taking the old wards down.

“I’m still not sure about this,” Sirius said.

“Then go back to the house, and we’ll do it,” Draco said, keeping his focus on his work, while Harry pouted and turned back towards the wards.

“Well, I could just do it the fast way,” Harry suggested.

“No, you’re better at putting the wards up. I’ll do this the fast way, but you have to be quick with getting the new wards up,” Draco insisted, moving a few paces away from Harry where he could feel the old wards better.

“What’s the fast way?” Sirius asked, eyeing the blond boy as Draco ran his hands through the air.

“He’s going to rip them down,” Harry said happily, and got ready to throw the new wards up as soon as Draco had the old down.

“Rip them… no wait!” Sirius said, but it was too late. Draco had already gripped the edge of the ward with his own magic, and pulled it down. Sirius felt his wards fall completely, leaving nothing behind, but his focus was on the blond boy that was standing extremely still.

“Draco?” Harry asked worriedly, as his friend suddenly looked very pale.

“It’s okay, Draco,” Sirius said, rushing to the boy’s side, an arm wrapping around him to keep Draco on his feet. “Close your eyes and take slow breaths,” he instructed, and the blond did as instructed.

“What’s wrong with him?” Harry asked, as he quickly put up the wards where the hole in them was, before moving to his friend’s other side.

“Magical shock,” Sirius told him bluntly, rubbing circles on Draco’s back. “The wards snapped back against his core when he pulled them down that fast,” he explained.

“Going to be sick,” Draco groaned quietly, lowering himself to the ground with some help from Sirius. “Don’t touch me!” Draco shouted when Harry reached out to help him too. “Trust me, you don’t want to feel this.”

Harry bit his lip, backing away a little. “I just want to help…” Harry said.

“You can help,” Sirius said, looking towards Harry. “Why don’t you go back to the house and tell Remus what happened.”

Harry looked from Sirius back to Draco before nodding. He turned and ran as fast as he could back towards the house.

“You do know, he’s not going back to the house,” Draco said, knowing that Harry’s first instinct would be to get Theodore and Blaise.

“He’ll get back to the house eventually,” Sirius said, trusting that Harry would be too worried about getting help for Draco to manage to get himself into any more trouble. “Now, are you going to be sick, or do you think I can move you?” Sirius asked.

“I think…” Draco shifted to try and stand up but stopped. “Sick, definitely sick,” Sirius continued rubbing circles on Draco’s back as the blond emptied the contents of his stomach.

\------------------x

Harry hurried through the backyard, looking behind him once again, but he could no longer see Sirius or Draco. He wanted to turn back around and go help his friend, but he was no healer, and standing around worrying wasn’t going to be very helpful. Sirius had told him to go find Remus, but Harry knew that Draco was going to need Theodore.

Looking ahead of him again, Harry was happy that he wouldn’t have to run back to the other side of the yard to find Blaise and Theodore, as the two of them were already near the house, and looked to be on their way in Harry’s direction.

“Theo!” Harry called out, running quickly so he could meet up with the two of them.

“Harry?” Blaise frowned when he saw his mate was alone. “What happened? Why are you running?”

“It’s Draco; he’s sick,” Harry said, turning and pointing in the direction that Draco and Sirius were in.

“And you left him alone?” Theodore looked shocked.

“No! Of course not!” Harry frowned, looking at Theodore. “Sirius is with him,” Harry said, his frown deepened when he felt a small spike of annoyance come from Theodore. “Did I do something wrong?” Harry asked.

“Blaise, I’ll leave you to talk to him, I’m going to get Draco,” Theodore said, and hurried off leaving Harry feeling even more confused as he turned to look at Blaise again.

“Draco ripped down the wards, and Sirius said that he has magical shock… I wanted to help, but there wasn't anything I could do, so Sirius sent me back to the house to get Remus and tell him what happened, but I was coming to get you and Theo first…” Harry explained.

“And you left Draco alone,” Blaise said.

“I didn’t! I told you, he’s with Sirius,” Harry frowned. “Draco was sick. I couldn’t move him.”

“Leaving Draco with Sirius is the same as leaving him alone,” Blaise tried to explain. “I meant to talk to you about this last night, but Harry, I think you are trusting these wizards far too easily,” Blaise said.

“But Sirius and Remus are good people; they’re helping us,” Harry said, still not sure what it was that he had done wrong.

“They are helping us, and they are decent people. They are at least better than a couple of the wizards we’ve met so far, but that doesn’t mean they’re good, and it doesn’t mean we should trust them,” Blaise said.

“If we can’t trust them, then who should we trust?” Harry asked.

“We trust each other,” Blaise sighed. “I know you want to trust everyone; be friends with every new person you see, but we can’t live like that Harry.”

“We can’t live hiding and never trusting anyone either!” Harry glared up at Blaise. “I like Sirius and Remus. I trust them because they don’t FEEL like bad people!”

“I know, but not all of us have that,” Blaise pointed out. “Theo and I, we just want to keep you and Draco safe. I am doing all I can to believe you when you say that someone is a good person, but you also have a talent of seeing nothing but good in people.” Blaise sighed, running a hand through his own hair as he looked down at Harry. “All I’m asking is that you turn your empathy off for a while because sometimes even the nicest people can’t be trusted,” Blaise said.

“We’re not going to leave here, are we?” Harry asked, not wanting to leave the relative safety that Sirius and Remus’ house had provided.

“No, we’re staying right here. Just because I don’t trust them, doesn’t mean I don’t like them,” Blaise said, and Harry shook his head.

“You are so confusing,” Harry said. Blaise smiled, moving to wrap his arms around Harry and pull him into a hug. Harry rested his head against Blaise’s chest; he wanted to do what his mate wanted, but Harry knew that he couldn’t just not trust people. “I will do better at blocking people, and try not to use my empathy as much, but I can’t promise that I’ll stop trusting people.”

“I know, Harry,” Blaise sighed again. “I don’t want you to change, not really, but I just need you to be more careful. Or at least talk to us before you take other people at their word.”

“I can promise you that,” Harry said, looking up at Blaise. “I still have to go tell Remus what happened. I don’t know what magical shock is… but it doesn’t sound fun, and I think Remus knows how to make Draco better.”

“Then let’s go do that because Theodore is going to be impossible to live with until Draco is back at one hundred percent,” Blaise said. Keeping one arm wrapped around Harry, he turned the two of them back toward the house.

“Remus!” Harry called out as the they headed inside. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for the man in question to come hurrying through the door from the sitting room.

“There you are!” Remus greeted as he hurried over to check the two boys. “Where are the others?”

“Sirius and Theo are with Draco. He ripped the wards down because it was faster,” Harry explained urgently.

“Who ripped them down? Draco?” Remus asked, looking alarmed, and Harry nodded. Remus’ eyes widened and it was obvious he knew what that meant. “You two wait here,” Remus ordered, and he started hurrying around the kitchen, starting a kettle of water before opening a cupboard that had an assortment of tiny bottles.

“What are you doing?” Blaise questioned.

“He is getting a potion that will help Draco.” Dumbledore spoke from the doorway leading into the sitting room. The two boys glanced over at him, rather surprised to see the old man back again.

“He doesn't need those,” Blaise said, returning his attention to Remus. He couldn’t bring himself to care much about what the elderly man had to say on the matter at that moment. “And you’ll have a hard time convincing Theo that Draco needs that stuff.”

“It will help him,” Remus said looking up at Blaise. “I know you boys aren't used to the way things are done in the wizarding world, but these potions will help him get better faster.”

“You're right. We’re not used to the way things are done here, and we never will get used to them because from what I have personally seen, none of you are doing anything right!” Blaise snapped. “Your magic is wrong. The way you use everything, disregarding how magic feels. All you do is wave your sticks around and force the magic to do your bidding; you can't enslave magic, bottle it up to use later.”

“Blaise!” Harry stood in front of his mate. “Remus is just trying to help. They don't know any better. That's why we're here; we have to show them. Yelling and getting angry isn't going to help anyone, least of all Draco,” Harry said. Blaise opened his mouth to say something else, but Harry cut him off. “Just let Remus help. Draco can look at those potions; he’s the healer and knows better than any of us if that stuff will actually work or not.”

Blaise closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He really didn’t like it, but he had to admit that Harry had a point; it was their job to help the wizards understand and Remus was clearly only trying to help. Opening his eyes again, Blaise looked toward Remus. The werewolf was making the tea, the potion bottles sitting next to him on the counter. “I’m sorry for getting angry,” Blaise said, and Remus looked back at him.

“It’s alright,” Remus said. “There are bound to be many more fights in the future. We will all have to learn how to meet each other halfway in certain things for a while.”

Blaise nodded his agreement, then looked down at Harry who was smiling at him. “Come on; let’s go change into some dry clothes.”

“But Draco…” Harry looked back toward the back door, wanting to stay, and wait for Sirius to come back with Draco and Theo.

“It may be a few minutes before Sirius can even move Draco,” Remus informed them. “Magical shock isn’t pleasant; even the slightest movement can make you sick. If they’re not back in five minutes, I’ll go out and get them,” Remus said, and even though Harry still looked worried, he allowed Blaise to lead him out of the kitchen and up the stairs to get changed.

“Those boys seem to be quite the handful,” Dumbledore said after watching Blaise and Harry vanish up the stairs.

“Yes, they definitely are, and it’s only the first full day,” Remus sighed, putting a charm over the tea to keep it warm while they waited. “I really don’t know how we’re going to do this. Everything about those boys is so different,” Remus said.

“Different, yes, but even you have to admit their story is a fascinating one,” Dumbledore said. “Those four boys have more knowledge than most fully grown, well educated wizards and witches I know. And, as you said, things will be a bit easier on all of you if you can meet each other halfway; so long as you all learn from each other as well,” Dumbledore said, and Remus smiled at him.

It was at that moment that the back door opened, and Sirius came in carrying Draco, Theodore right behind them not looking happy at all. “Sirius, put him in the sitting room on the settee. I have some tea ready, and some potions,” Remus said.

Sirius nodded, carrying Draco through to the next room. Theo and Dumbledore both followed after them, watching on with concerned expressions as Draco was laid on the sofa with great care. Theo hurried to Draco’s side when the blond let out a soft groan.

“Good to see you’re awake,” Remus said, as he crouched next to Draco’s head, placing the tea and potions on the floor, close to hand.

“I’m not so sure,” Draco replied quietly, his voice a little croaky and his eyes barely open. “Think I would rather pass out.”

“Well, then it would be trickier to give you this,” Remus told him, picking up a small phial and holding it up in Draco’s eyeline. “It will help that headache,” he explained, when Draco looked apprehensive. “And I have another one that will settle your stomach too.”

Draco still didn’t look sure and glanced up at his mate, who was standing close by. “It’s your choice,” Theo told him, despite looking very much like he wanted to swat the phial from Remus’ hand and get it far away from Draco.

Draco looked back at Remus, his eyes focusing on the phial. “Can I see it for a moment?” Draco requested, holding his hand out for it. Remus held it out for him without argument, and remained silent as the blond boy turned the phial over in his hand slowly. “... it doesn’t feel bad,” Draco said, sounding a little confused by this fact.

“Most potions created for healing aren’t bad, even if most of them taste that way,” Sirius said.

“Potions are most likely one of the purest forms of magic that we currently have,” Dumbledore said, earning curious looks from both Theodore and Draco. “A potion is created by using the innate magic in the ingredients we use. While it may seem strange, I do not believe it is something that even the Fae could take objection to?”

“Uses the magic of the ingredients?” Draco asked, looking fascinated by the idea. “But just mixing things together isn’t going to make it work, even if the things used have magic to begin with,” Draco said.

“Quite so,” Dumbledore said with a smile and twinkling eyes, nodding his head in agreement. “The ingredients alone aren’t enough, as they need to have their potential released. This is the only part of potion making that we use magic for, and even then it’s very briefly, depending on what the potion is supposed to be.”

“I could show you how it is done at some point,” Remus offered, and Draco seemed interested in that suggestion, even if he was unable to express much enthusiasm given his current state.

“You think we would be able to make it work, even though we use magic differently?” Draco asked, his curiosity winning out over his current discomfort.

“I believe so, and it may even be closer to the magic you are used to, than the spells we perform,” Dumbledore assured him. “Potions require the intent of the witch or wizard to be in line with what they are trying to achieve, so for these potions here that are meant to heal a person, the person making these would have let their magic work on instinct based on what they intend the potion to be.”

“For instance, any potion made for me or Remus you can never be sure if it’s a healing potion or poison,” Sirius added unhelpfully, earning a glare from Remus.

“That is not true and you know it! Severus may think about slipping poison into your food, but he knows that the potions we have here are used for the entire Order,” Remus snapped. “Now, if you don’t mind, go somewhere else and be useless for a while,” Remus said, turning away from Sirius as the man left as instructed, and looked back at Draco, who was eyeing the phial cautiously now.

“Maybe you shouldn’t take it,” Theodore said, also looking at the potion Draco was holding.

“I promise you, it’s not poison,” Remus said, gently taking the phial from Draco’s hand and opening it. Theodore shifted forward, ready to knock the phial away if Remus tried to give the potion to Draco, but stopped when the werewolf took a sip of the potion instead. Theodore and Draco watched Remus with wide eyes, waiting to see what would happen.

“It’s really not poison?” Draco asked.

“No,” Remus smiled. “It’s just a headache potion,” Remus handed the phial back to Draco. The blond boy looked at it for a moment before opening it and took a sip as well. He made a disgusted face, thrusting the phial back at Remus.

“That is horrid! “ Draco said.

“Most potions taste awful. That is why I made you some tea; you can drink that after you have the other potion to settle your stomach,” Remus said, holding up the second phial.

“Does that one taste bad too?” Draco asked, not sure if it would be worth drinking or not.

“Some people are okay with the taste,” was all Remus said, as he handed the phial over, smiling as Draco looked at it apprehensively, before opening that one too. “You will want to take a good swig of this one, or it won’t do anything to help your stomach,” Remus said. Draco nodded slowly and did as he was told.

Theodore stood close by, wanting to help but he could see that Remus knew exactly what he was doing, even by making Draco drink extra of the second potion. The werewolf had a bucket ready and waiting for when Draco dropped the phial and rolled over, taking deep breaths as he attempted to calm his stomach. Though at this point Theo was more focused on Remus than Draco, and he couldn’t help but smile as he watched the werewolf taking care of the blond boy.

“Draco!” Harry’s was heard only a second before he was seen, the small boy running into the room kneeling next to the settee. “Are you okay? Do you feel any better? Remus said he was going to give you something to make you feel better.” Harry paused and looked toward Remus. “Did you give him that stuff?” Harry asked, and Remus smiled, placing a hand on Harry’s head.

“Yes, I gave him the potions. He’s going to need some rest now, so it might be best if you leave him alone for now,” Remus said.

“Oh… okay,” Harry said, looking back at Draco, who was laying on his back again, his eyes closed.

“He’s going to rest here for a little while,” Remus said. “Do you want to do me a favor?” The werewolf smiled when Harry’s attention snapped toward him, and the boy nodding eagerly. “Go upstairs and grab a blanket and a pillow for him.” Remus chuckled, as Harry jumped to his feet and ran out of the room to do what he was asked.

Theodore watched as Harry ran past him again, and turned to watch the energetic boy vanish into the hallway again. “Your mate has too much energy,” Theodore said when he saw Blaise standing in the doorway.

“You learn to deal with it,” Blaise said with a small smirk. “Besides, I like his energy.” Blaise moved into the room to stand next to Theodore. “So, did you really allow Draco to take those potions?”

“I left the decision up to him,” Theodore said. “It was also explained to us how the potions actually work.”

“Wasn’t it you who was telling me not even an hour ago that I had to talk to Harry about his trust issues?” Blaise raised a questioning eyebrow at his friend.

“Yes, and this is different,” Theodore pointed out.

“Enlighten me, how is this different?” Blaise said, trying to keep his voice down, but he knew that it was practically pointless as Remus could hear them easily anyway.

“Because we’ve already been adopted,” Theodore pointed out, nodding his head in the direction of Remus. Blaise turned his attention toward the werewolf as well, frowning slightly as he watched Remus fuss over Draco a bit more before he started picking up the empty phials of potion, standing and placing them on the coffee table along with the tea that Draco hadn’t touched yet.

“Oh,” Blaise chuckled understandingly. “Well, I suppose being the adopted cubs of a werewolf is about the best protection we could ask for,” Blaise said.

An amused chuckle from Dumbledore drew the two teens attention toward the elderly wizard. Though Dumbledore was looking at Remus and not them. “I am surprised you have told these boys your secret so soon,” Dumbledore said.

“I haven’t…” Remus replied to Dumbledore, but his attention was on Blaise and Theo. “You two know?”

“Of course,” Theo said, not sure why it was so surprising.

“Were we not supposed to know?” Blaise questioned, glancing behind him when he heard Harry running back into the room, dragging a blanket and pillow behind him.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked, unable to miss the worry and fear radiating from Remus, or the confusion from his mate and Theo.

“You know what I am?” Remus asked, this time turning to look at Harry, who had frozen halfway across the room, pillow pulled against his chest and the blanket still trailing behind him.

“You’re a wizard,” Harry said hesitantly, frowning in confusion, glancing over to Blaise and Theo to make sure he hadn’t said something wrong, but they both just shrugged their shoulders.

“So Harry doesn’t know?” Remus questioned, looking back to Blaise and Theo again.

“We all know you’re a werewolf,” Draco said irritably, his words muffled by his half-asleep state.

“Oh, yeah, I knew that,” Harry said happily, glad that this was something that hadn’t been kept from him. And now that he considered the matter resolved he moved over to Draco, helping to put the pillow under his friend’s head, before draping the blanket over him carefully. He came up short however, when he turned back around and found Remus and Dumbledore staring at him with baffled expressions.

“Did I say something wrong?” Harry asked with a frown.

“No, of course not,” Remus was quick to reassure the boy. “It’s just, I don’t usually tell people what I am, and it’s not very often that they are able to guess within a single day either,” Remus explained.

“Oh, we didn’t guess.” Harry smiled. “I knew what you were when I first saw you, all of us did, it’s not that difficult to tell.”

“Would this happen to be similar to how you feel magic?” Dumbledore asked.

“I think so?” Harry didn’t look so sure about his answer so he looked toward Blaise for help.

“Each magical creature has a different feel to them, though there are other subtle signs as well,” Blaise explained. “We were raised to be able to identify other creatures, so it’s easy for us, but it wouldn’t be something we could easily teach anyone else,” Blaise said.

“And none of you care that I’m a werewolf?” Remus asked.

“Are we supposed to care?” Harry looked confused. “You don’t plan on biting us, do you?”

“No!” Remus answered quickly, looking horrified by the very idea of it.

“Then we don’t care what you are, because you’re just Remus,” Harry explained and grinned widely, wrapping his arms tightly around Remus’ middle. The werewolf looked a little stunned, but returned the hug regardless.

“Apparently I missed something,” Sirius said as he came back into the room, taking in the sight of his lover and his godson embracing.

“Mhmm,” Remus hummed, smiling down at Harry affectionately, realising that Theo might actually be right. “It seems,” he said, looking over in Sirius’ direction, “that my inner wolf might have claimed these boys for our own.”

“Ha!” Sirius exclaimed in amused surprise, looking around as though expecting one of the teenagers to object to such a thing, but, if anything, Blaise and Theo looked almost relieved. “Well I think we could live with that,” he declared happily, throwing an arm over each of Theo and Blaise’s shoulders.

“I think we can too,” Blaise agreed, looking between Sirius and Remus. Theo nodded too as he glanced over to where Draco was now fast asleep. Maybe Harry was right about trusting them after all.

TBC

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone liked that! Our next update will be between Jan 7-9, see you all in the new year!  
> CelticKitsune: Also for anyone who was reading Unwanted Bonds, the sequel to that story will be posted Jan 3rd. :D


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to Emily for beta reading this for us!  
> And Happy New year to everyone! We look forward to a wonderful new year ahead of us! And we have lots in store for you all! See notes at the end of the chapter!

Chapter 12

23rd December 1995

Over the next two days, the boys began to make themselves at home. Frank had confirmed that Sirius had been officially granted temporary custody of the boys until the case was resolved, and that had certainly put Sirius’ mind at ease. 

Remus, however, had had his work cut out for him. Harry kept insisting on trying to help with everything, so Remus was trying to find little odd jobs around the house that the boy could do. He just didn't have the heart to tell Harry no. Finally Sirius stepped in to save his boyfriend. 

“Come on, Harry, I’ve got something you can help me with,” Sirius said, grinning as Harry turned away from Remus quickly. Sirius earned himself a grateful smile from the werewolf as Harry hurried over to where Sirius was standing at the bottom of the stairs. 

“What is it?” Harry asked, following Sirius as the man started walking upstairs. 

“There are some boxes in the attic that Remus and I were trying to dig out the other day. We found most of them, but they never quite made it downstairs. I wanted some help bringing them down to the sitting room,” Sirius explained, leading Harry all the way up to the landing, and summoning down the ladder to the attic. 

“What’s in the boxes?” Harry questioned as Sirius climbed the ladder, following him and poking his head up into the attic once Sirius had gone all the way up. 

“Christmas decorations. Things have been a little hectic recently, so Remus and I haven’t had time to start decorating yet. We’re cutting it a bit close this year, but if you boys help out I’m sure we’ll manage,” Sirius said as he started grabbing the boxes and stacking them up by the hatch. 

“What’s Christmas?” Harry blinked, looking at the boxes curiously when he saw some shiny bit of tinsel hanging out of one of them. 

“You don't know what Christmas is?” Sirius asked, pausing in what he was doing to turn and look at Harry. “Did you celebrate any holidays at all?” 

Harry frowned, tilting his head and looking a little confused. “We don’t have holidays,” Harry said. “But we do celebrate Ambas-ilarey.” Harry smiled widely as he thought about the wonderful feast the Fae held each year, and how everyone would go down to the Ilarey River. But it was now Sirius’ turn to look confused. 

“Never heard of that holiday. Well, I guess that makes us even then,” Sirius said with a chuckle. “Let’s get these boxes downstairs, and you can explain your holiday to me while we do that, and then later I’ll have Remus explain Christmas to you,” Sirius said. 

“Why can’t you do it?” Harry questioned as he waved his hand over one of the boxes, causing it to rise about an inch and levitate there. He didn’t want to wait to find out about this unknown celebration. 

“Because my explanation wouldn’t go beyond ‘you get presents on Christmas’,” Sirius said with a wink, grabbing the last box and stacking it with the others. 

“Does everyone get presents? Is that what’s in the boxes?” Harry asked curiously, moving the levitating box closer to himself and lifting the corner of top and trying to look inside.

Sirius chuckled. “No, those are the decorations, remember,” he pointed out with amusement. “But yes, everyone should get presents at christmas.” 

“So Christmas is about presents?” Harry asked, feeling confused as to why Sirius needed Remus to explain that to him.

“Oh, no, there’s a lot more to it, or at least Remus will tell you there is,” Sirius told him, taking a seat next to the small stack of boxes. Harry, however, was still watching him expectantly. “Like ‘it’s a time for family’, decorations, some religious stuff and all that,” he explained vaguely. “Besides, I’m really curious about this holiday of yours.”

“It’s when we say thank you for our magic,” Harry told him matter-of-factly. “But we don’t get presents. How does everyone get presents for Christmas?” Harry questioned, seeming unable to leave the topic of Christmas alone. 

“How about this, we get all these boxes downstairs first, then I’ll drag Remus out of the kitchen for a while and you can ask him to explain it to you in as much depth as you like,” Sirius said.

“Okay!” Harry said excitedly, backing down the ladder and then waved his hand in a gesture that summoned the floating box down out of the attic. 

Between him and Sirius, they managed to get all the boxes down from the attic and into the living room in less than five minutes, and they both headed back up to make sure they had everything. 

Harry looked around the attic curiously as Sirius checked the contents of some of the boxes, making sure that they weren’t missing anything that they would need. There were quite a lot of things stored up there, and Harry found himself wondering what else Sirius kept up here, if it wasn’t all Christmas decorations. 

Harry wasn’t sure what else they would need, but he was eager to help still. So picking his own stack of boxes, he started going through them. He could tell after the first couple boxes that there wasn’t any Christmas decorations in them, but they were full of other curious items. The one box he had opened had small bits of clothing, and what looked to be brightly colored toys. Another box held a few pictures that were still sitting in broken picture frames.

Curiously Harry picked up one to get a closer look. There were three people in the picture, and Harry was sure he had never seen them before, not even when Sirius had had all those people over before. “Sirius?” Harry turned to face his godfather. “Who are these people?” Harry asked, holding the picture out toward Sirius.

“Hmm?” Sirius hummed, as he turned to look at what Harry meant. “Oh,” he said, as he realised what Harry was holding and he moved across the attic towards him. He stared at the picture; he had seen multiple times before, looking at it now brought up bittersweet memories. It took Sirius a moment to realise that Harry was still waiting for an answer. 

“That is a picture of my best friend, his wife and their son,” Sirius said, mentally kicking himself as he once again avoided talking to Harry about his parents. 

“They look so happy,” Harry said, looking at the picture and smiling. “The lady is really pretty,” Harry handed the picture over to Sirius, who took it with a trembling hand. 

“They were happy, one of the happiest couples I knew,” Sirius said sadly. “But… they’re gone now.” 

“Where did they go?” Harry asked, frowning when Sirius just shook his head. 

“Come on. I’m sure we’ve got all the Christmas stuff. Let’s go back downstairs and see if we can pull Remus out of the kitchen for a few minutes,” Sirius said. 

Harry watched as the man practically ran from the attic, leaving the picture of the happy family behind. Harry stared at the picture for another moment before making up his mind, taking the picture with him as he followed Sirius downstairs. His main thought was that a picture of such a happy family shouldn’t be shut away in an attic. 

Harry descended the ladder at a slower pace than Sirius had, smiling when he realised that Blaise was waiting for him at the bottom of the ladder.

“You okay?” Blaise asked, looking concerned as Harry reached him. “Sirius came charging down the stairs, nearly knocked me over too,” he explained, reaching out and brushing a clump of dust from Harry’s hair.

“Everything’s okay, I think,” Harry said, glancing down at the picture he was still holding. “I found this, and I think it upset him,” he said, showing it to Blaise. 

Blaise took the picture looking at it closely, a small frown forming on his face as he studied the people in it. “Did he say why he was upset about this picture?” Blaise asked. 

“He said it was a picture of his best friend, but he didn’t say who it was…” Harry admitted. 

“This guy looks a lot like you,” Blaise pointed out, and Harry looked at the picture again. “And this lady has the same color eyes as you do,” Blaise said, letting go of the picture when Harry snatched it back and peered at it closely, as though wanting to verify what Blaise had said. 

“Maybe I’ll go ask Remus about the picture. I don’t want to upset Sirius anymore,” Harry decided. 

“I’ll go with you. I am kind of curious now too,” Blaise said, taking Harry’s hand and lacing their fingers together as they both headed downstairs. 

Theodore and Draco were in the sitting room, each of them going through a box of decorations trying to figure out what everything was actually for, but there was no sign of Sirius or Remus. 

“Where did the werewolf go?” Blaise asked. 

“Sirius came in here and dragged Remus into the kitchen,” Draco told him, holding up a shiny sphere and looking at his reflection in it curiously. “I think they put up something to keep us from hearing what they’re talking about,” he added without looking up.

“Is everything alright?” Theo started to ask, but Harry was already heading off towards the kitchen. 

“Hope so,” Blaise told him vaguely as he hurried after Harry, knowing that Sirius and Remus had probably put up wards for a reason, and he suspected it had something to do with the strange picture that Harry had shown him. 

Harry pushed the kitchen door open, shuddering as he passed through the wards that had been placed up. However, he didn’t have time to focus on that, as he had walked in on what appeared to be a heated argument between Sirius and Remus. 

“I can't tell him! How can you tell a kid that their parents are dead, when the whole reason they're here, is to meet them!” Sirius yelled, and Remus didn’t look too impressed with his boyfriend. “He’ll leave, Remus. If Harry knows they’re gone, he’ll leave, and we’ll lose him all over again!”

Harry could only stand there as waves of sadness radiated from both of them, though Remus’ was tinged with frustration. Harry was shocked by how scared Sirius seemed to be at the idea of losing him; the fear and panic his godfather was feeling was almost overwhelming. He was only vaguely aware of Blaise’s hand on his back, but his mate’s presence was helping to clear his mind enough that Sirius actually words were starting to sink in.

“My parents are dead?” Even though Harry’s voice was soft, it stopped the argument between the adults immediately. Both Remus and Sirius turned to look at Harry and Blaise. “That’s what you two are talking about right? That’s who’s in this picture, isn’t it?” Harry turned the picture around so they could see it. 

“I…” Sirius stared at the picture, then looked at Harry. 

“Yes, Harry,” Remus answered. “Those are your parents, Lily and James, but they died not long after you were taken,” he explained. “We’re sorry we didn’t tell you, but…”

“Sirius thought I would leave,” Harry finished for him, turning the picture around and looking at it again. He wasn’t sure what to think now that he knew he was looking at his parents, but knowing that he would never meet them. He could feel Remus and Sirius’ sadness still, but he couldn’t feel much of an emotional connection to the people in the picture. 

“I’m really sorry, Harry,” Sirius said, “I hadn’t intended to keep this from you,” he explained. 

“It’s okay,” Harry said, smiling at Sirius and hoping that he could reassure the man that he wasn’t going anywhere. “I can tell that you’re both still really sad about it. I don’t know what happened to them, and… I’m a little sad that I’ll never meet them,” Harry admitted, glancing back down at the picture. “But, none of us really understands what a parent is. I think the closest we ever had to them were our mentors, but even then I feel like a parent is someone different.” 

“I’m not happy that you two were lying to Harry about this,” Blaise spoke up, once he was sure Harry was finished talking. “But… I think I can understand why. I just hope you don’t make lying to us a habit,” Blaise said. 

“We weren’t really lying,” Sirius said hesitantly. “I just never said that I knew Harry’s parents…” 

“Sirius, that is still considered lying,” Remus let out a small sigh. “As we have both said, we are sorry we didn’t tell you. The details about your parents death are still difficult for us, and I promise that we won’t intentionally lie to you again,” Remus said. 

“That is a pretty big promise to make,” Blaise pointed out, and Harry grinned widely as he looked from Blaise to Remus.

“How about if we ask you for information and you know something, you’ll tell us and not hide it again?” Harry compromised and Remus smiled. 

“That sounds fair enough,” he said, glancing sternly over to Sirius, who nodded his agreement. “So now that’s settled, why don’t we go sort those decorations in the other room.”

“And you can tell me what Christmas is,” Harry said enthusiastically, holding out the picture for Remus to take.

“No, you keep it. They’re your parents,” Remus told him, resting his hand on top of Harry’s. “Sirius and I have plenty of pictures of them, not to mention our memories.”

“Really?” Harry asked, his face lighting up as he looked at the picture again, before he turned and ran back into the sitting room. 

“Where’s he going?” Sirius asked, a twinge of panic in his voice as he watched his godson disappear through the door. 

“Probably to show Draco and Theo his picture,” Blaise said with an amused smirk. “You’ll come to realise that you can’t tell Harry anything without expecting him to share it with Draco.”

Blaise turned and followed Harry into the sitting room, and didn’t have to look to know that Remus and Sirius had followed him. Sure enough, Harry was sitting next to Draco; the blond boy was holding Harry’s picture, comparing the people in the picture to Harry; Theodore had come to stand next to Draco, doing the same. Blaise moved to join them. 

A flash caught their attention, and the four boys looked up to see Sirius standing there holding an odd object in his hand. 

“Smile!” Sirius said, and there was another flash. 

Harry abandoned his picture, going to investigate what it was that Sirius had, while Remus settled down and started sorting through the boxes, handing off decorations to Theo, Blaise and Draco and telling them where to put them for the time being. 

“What’s that?” Harry asked curiously, trying to examine the strange box in Sirius’s hands.

Sirius smiled indulgently as he handed the camera over, and settled himself in to explain cameras and photographs to Harry. It was bittersweet how much Harry’s excited curiosity reminded him of Lily; and though he had only seen a little bit of it, Sirius was also sure that Harry’s stubbornness could rival James’. The boy was a perfect combination of both his parents, in looks and personality. Sirius hoped that one day he would be able to share some stories with Harry, about the people his parents had been.

\-------------x

Fabian knew he shouldn’t find the situation amusing, but he couldn’t help but laugh as he watched his sister trying to gather her children into one room. Fabian loved each one of his nephews and his niece, but they all certainly gave Molly a lot of trouble sometimes, particularly the seventeen year old twins, Fred and George. Charlie and Ginny both encouraged their twin brothers’ behaviour, and Percy’s disapproval did nothing to dissuade it either.

“You know, you could help her, instead of standing here laughing,” Gideon pointed out. 

“You could be helping her just as easily as me,” Fabian pointed out, taking a sip of his tea as he watched Fred and George run through the kitchen, the identical smirks on their faces indicating that they were up to some sort of mischief. 

“I know those looks! Who was the target of your prank this morning?” Fabian asked his passing nephews.

“Well, it was supposed to be a prank for Percy,” Fred said as he and George stopped and turned to grin at Fabian. “But…” 

“We sort of forgot that we currently have two book nerds in the house,” George explained, when Fred trailed off. “And well…” He shrugged his shoulders, feigning a look of innocence. Gideon simply raised an eyebrow in question. “The wrong person got caught up in the prank,” he said, looking amused by this. 

Fabian couldn’t help but laugh. “So you accidently pranked your girlfriend?”

“Yes,” Fred admitted bashfully. “And right now I’d rather not face her until I know she’s not actually angry at me.” 

“I completely understand,” Fabian said, unable to keep a smirk from his face. “Hermione is a very frightening girl, especially when you think about all the spells and curses she probably has memorised by now.” 

“Like I need reminding,” Fred grumbled, with a wince, which caused George to chuckle evilly. Fabian wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“Well if you two are looking for a place to hide, that’s probably not the way you should be going,” Gideon said, gesturing the way his twin nephews had been heading when they had come charging into the kitchen. “Try Bill’s room, that’s full of hidey-holes.”

“Of course,” Fred exclaimed, as though he had been foolish not to think of it himself. He didn’t get to say anything else though, because George already had him by the hand and was dragging him back the other way, towards the stairs.

“I suppose that’s one way to help,” Fabian chuckled. “I have to wonder if Sirius knows what he’s getting himself into by inviting this bunch over.” 

“No one knows what they’re getting into when they invite the whole family over,” Gideon pointed out with a smug grin. “Though we’ll never get over there at all if we don’t try and help Molly.”

Fabian hummed in agreement and finished his tea, setting the cup down on the counter behind him. “You’re right, so why don’t you go find Fred and George, since you’re the one who just sent them off to hide.” Fabian grinned at the look his own twin brother gave him. “I’ll go find Percy and Charlie, see if either of them actually plan on joining us, and Molly can work on getting Ginny and her friend down here.”

Giden had just opened his mouth to speak when a shrill shout sounded through the house.

“Fred Weasley, You get back here RIGHT now!” 

It was only a few seconds later that Fred came running through the kitchen again, Hermione right behind him. It was easy to see why the teen girl was so angry though; her normal bushy brown hair had been changed to a combination of red and green streaks, with gold sparkles that seemed to resemble blinking lights when the light caught it just right. 

“I already said I was sorry!” Fred exclaimed, darting around the table, putting himself out of arm's reach of his girlfriend. “You weren’t supposed to be the one caught up in that prank; it was for Percy,” he explained urgently. 

“I don’t care who it was meant for!” Hermione retorted, going after him. 

Gideon and Fabian quickly moved themselves out of the way as the two teens started circling the table. The last thing they wanted was to be trampled by Fred as he tried to remain out of reach of an angry Hermione. 

“You’re going to undo what you did, right NOW!” Hermione exclaimed.

“I will! I will!” Fred yelled, changing direction when Hermione did. “If you stop CHASING me!” At his words, she did actually stop, though Fred strategically kept a table between the two of them while he caught his breath.

“I stopped. Now you fix this,” Hermione insisted. Fred turned to look at her and smiled charmingly. 

“If you’re quite sure you want me to. I mean, it looks a lot better on you than it would have on Percy, that’s for sure,” Fred said. “And it will wear off before tomorrow either way.” 

Hermione took a deep breath to calm herself down a little, before speaking more calmly. “It doesn’t look horrible,” she agreed reluctantly. “But this isn’t really what I want to look like when meeting new people, Fred,” Hermione explained. 

Fred took on a more serious look and hesitated only a moment before stepping around the table. Now that he was sure Hermione wasn’t going to hex him, he pulled her into a hug. 

“I’ll fix it,” he promised earnestly. “I still think it looks cute, but we’ll get it back to normal. It will only take a couple minutes,” Fred said, pulling away to look down at her. “Come on,” he said, taking her hand and leading her out of the kitchen. 

“That was amusing, and almost too sweet, to watch,” Fabian said, watching the two teens leave the kitchen. 

“Like you’re one to talk,” Gideon said with a smirk at his twin. 

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Fabian chuckled, before quickly changing the subject. “Come on, we really should help get these kids together, or else we’re going to be late,” he said and left the kitchen. Gideon shook his head in amusement, following his brother. 

Between the two of them and Molly, they managed to get all the kids in the same room in just under half an hour, which Fabian was convinced had to be a personal family record. Even Percy and Charlie had both decided to join them, and were standing with their younger siblings.

“Now why isn’t getting these kids ready for school this organised?” Fabian asked the room in general, as Gideon moved to stand by the fireplace. 

“One of the great mysteries of the universe I suppose,” George said with a long, exaggerated sigh, and Ginny giggled next to him. 

“Dunno, but I'm sure that Bill and I were never this much trouble,” Charlie declared with a ear-to-ear grin. Gideon and Fabian didn’t even dignify that with a response, both shaking their heads in silent amusement.

“Alright, everyone line up,” Molly instructed loudly as she came bustling back into the room, holding the small pot of floo powder. “Fabian, I think you should go through first and let Sirius and Remus know we’re on our way,” she said. 

Fabian gave his sister a salute, taking a pinch of floo powder and throwing it into the fireplace calling out “Wit’s End,” and disappearing in a woosh of green flames.

“Wit’s end?” Hermione asked incredulously. 

“A strangely fitting name for Sirius and Remus’ home, trust me,” Charlie told her with a grin, before grabbing a pinch of floo powder and following his uncle.

\-------------x

Fabian watched his sister’s sitting room vanish, as he spun and whirled through the floo network before arriving on the other end, stepping out into Remus and Sirius’ sitting room. Even having just come from a house full of Weasley madness, he had to laugh at the sight that met him. 

There was tinsel just about everywhere, draped over every surface, and the large pile of it in the middle of the room seemed to be alive, given the way it was moving and the muffled shouts coming from inside.

“Oooph,” said the tinsel pile before a head of black hair poked out of the top of it. “That was my stomach, Draco, watch where you’re putting your elbows!”

“Harry, Draco, get out of there,” Remus said with exasperation, and Fabian watched as the man rushed over to them and helped Harry climb free, before digging out a blond boy from under the shimmering mass. 

“Looks like the fun started without us,” Charlie said, as he stepped out of the floo and moved to stand next to his uncle. 

Sirius looked up from where he was seated on the couch, looking far too amused with the whole situation. “This has been going on most of the morning, as soon as we started pulling things out of the boxes. You missed the drama over the tree lights,” he added, gesturing over to the far side of the room. 

Fabian and Charlie looked over to where a large tree stood. It wasn’t clear what the drama had been but the tree was certainly well lit, and the lights seemed to also be dotted around much of the room, and Fabian thought he could see them out in the hallway and going up the stairs as well. 

“Well this is festive!” George declared as he too stepped out of the floo, closely followed by Fred and Hermione, all three of them taking in the half-decorated room, and the mess of decorations that littered the floor.

“Looks like our kind of decorating, wouldn’t you say, George?” Fred said with a grin. 

Hermione rolled her eyes. “I don’t suppose it would make any difference if I was to remind you that we are here to help not hinder?” she asked with resignation. Fred, George, Charlie and Fabian all laughed. “Yeah, I didn’t think so,” she huffed, as they were joined by Percy and Ginny. 

“I suppose some introductions are in order,” Remus said, when he saw that Blaise and Theo had both moved closer to Harry and Draco, and were watching the newcomers with uncertainty. Not that Remus blamed them; the four boys had seen a lot of new faces in the three days they’d been back in the wizarding world. 

Remus moved over to stand with the boys as well, putting one hand on Blaise’s shoulder, while the other came to rest on Draco’s as they seemed to be the most wary of meeting new people. 

“So you four already know Fabian,” Remus said, the red headed man nodded his greeting. “This is his family,” Remus said and introduced everyone by name, going from oldest to youngest. “That there is Charlie, then we have Percy, Fred, George, and Ginny, and that there is their friend Hermione,” Remus indicated the bushy haired girl that was standing between Fred and Ginny. 

“And we’re still waiting on Molly and Gideon,” Fabian pointed out. 

“How many of you are there exactly?” Blaise asked curiously. Harry was at his side, holding his hand and watching the newcomers with curious interest, though his main focus seemed to be on the identical twins. Blaise was relieved though that Harry was remaining by his side, at least for the moment. 

“Too many,” Fabian answered Blaise with an amused smile. 

“Here today, there are nine,” Percy stated, pausing to consider this carefully for a moment. “Though that does include Hermione, who is not related to us. And excludes our eldest brother Bill, as he was busy, and our youngest brother, as he is still missing. Plus Dad is at work at the Ministry.” 

“You like to talk a lot, don’t you?” Draco asked, looking at Percy. 

Theodore chuckled glancing down at his mate. “No more than you or Harry,” he said, earning a glare from Draco and a pout from Harry. Before either of them could protest to Theodore’s comment, however, the fire lit up green again. 

“Did we keep you waiting?” Gideon asked as he stepped out of the fireplace and found his family facing Sirius, Remus and the four boys. “Molly decided she just had to bring the sugar cookies she made yesterday,” he explained with the exasperation known only to a long suffering sibling. Sure enough, his sister followed him out of the fire, a huge tin in her hands, and a smile on her face. 

“They look alike too,” Harry whispered to Blaise, looking between Fabian and Gideon, and then back to Fred and George. 

“That’s ‘cause he’s my twin,” Fabian explained, throwing an arm over Gideon’s shoulder. “You not seen twins before?” he asked, and Harry, Blaise, Theo and Draco all shook their heads. “Fred and George are twins too.”

“Oh,” Harry said, though still looked a little confused. 

“I’ll explain it to you later,” Sirius promised, ruffling Harry’s hair, smiling when his godson giggled and ducked behind Blaise. 

“These are the boys that everyone is talking about?” Molly asked, beaming at the four of them. Harry peeked back around Blaise and looked over at the woman who had spoken. 

“Yep, this is them,” Sirius said. “Blaise, Harry, Theodore and Draco,” he introduced, gesturing to each of them in turn. “Now what was this Gideon was saying about you bringing over sugar cookies?” the animagus questioned, eyeing the tin that Molly was carrying. 

“I thought these boys might like to try some,” Molly said, her warm smile lighting up her face.

“Don't listen to her. She just realised the same thing she does every year,” Gideon said, sharing a smirk with his twin.

“That giving her kids any kind of sugar is a bad idea,” Fabian added with an amused grin. “And that this is a great chance to fob these off on someone else.”

“Oh nonsense,” Molly scoffed, waving off her brothers’ comments and looking at the group of four boys. “Would any of you like a biscuit?” she asked. 

Taking the lid off her tin, she moved around her own children in order to offer the sugar cookies to the four boys. Fabian let out a snort of laughter when his sister swatted away George’s hand as the seventeen-year-old reached for one. Charlie and Ginny couldn’t help but laugh at the pout that Fred and George shared. 

“Oh good, Harry and Draco on sugar; I don’t see how that can go wrong,” Remus said quietly, and Sirius snorted in amusement. However, neither of them made any move to stop the boys when they moved forward cautiously. 

“More strange food?” Draco asked, peering into the tin that was offered them. 

“They smell good,” Harry said, taking one and popping it into his mouth before anyone could stop him. 

“Harry,” Blaise said, letting out a long sigh as his mate looked up at him. Harry stared at him for a long moment, swallowing the cookie that was in his mouth. 

“...you’re mad at me.” Harry frowned. 

“No, I’m not,” Blaise said. 

“Irritated then, but that’s still the same. What did I…?” Harry began to ask but paused again when he realised exactly what it was that he was doing, that he had simply trusted this woman without a second thought, based only on what he could feel from her.. “Oh… right, shielding,” he sighed. “Sorry! It’s not that easy!” Harry exclaimed with imploring, wide eyes, not wanting Blaise to be mad at him.

Blaise smiled, resting a hand on Harry’s head. “I know, but try to remember okay?” 

“Okay!” Harry grinned widely, reaching into the tin and taking a couple more cookies. “Now you have to try one of these,” he insisted, practically shoving the cookie into Blaise’s mouth before his mate could protest. Theodore laughed, only to receive the same treatment from Harry, and hummed his approval as he took a bite. 

“Harry! Stop force feeding my mate strange things!” Draco snapped, taking a step back as Harry turned toward him, another cookie held in his hand. “Oh no you don’t!” Draco yelped, turning and taking off running, Harry giving chase. 

“Harry…” Remus said wearily. 

“Now this looks like a fun game. Mum, hand me one of those,” George requested with exaggerated sweetness. 

“Who are you going to force feed?” Fred asked eagerly. 

“Percy. You can hold him down for me.” George grinned, which was mirrored by Fred as he stalked toward Percy, who had been slowly edging his way toward the kitchen. 

“Fred, George,” Molly protested, as the twins darted off after their brother. She was not best pleased that her sons were already causing such trouble. The two of them, however, ignored her, continuing to chase after Percy, and dodging Harry and Draco, as the two younger boys’ chase wove between them.

Hermione stood next to Ginny, watching the chaos unfold. She had known that Fred wouldn’t be able to resist for long, and as he moved off to join his twin she let out a long sigh. “Sometimes I have to wonder why I like him so much,” she said. 

“Because despite Fred being an idiot, he is apparently both hilarious and charming,” Ginny said, using the same words that Hermione had once used to describe Fred. 

“Not to mention ridiculously handsome,” George added, as he darted off to one side, trying to cut off Percy’s escape route.

“No, you’re just an idiot.” Ginny smiled sweetly at her older brother. 

“I agree, Fred is by far the better looking out of the two of you,” Charlie said, unable to help himself from joining in on teasing his little brother. 

“That’s like saying that Uncle Fabian is better looking than Uncle Gideon!” George stated. 

“Sad, but the truth does hurt,” Fabian said happily. But before anyone else could comment back on this, Draco suddenly darted past them, hiding himself behind Ginny and Hermione. 

“Don’t let him get me!” Draco said, laughing as Harry came to a sudden halt in front of the two girls. Hermione and Ginny looked over their shoulders at Draco for a moment, before Hermione looked back at the dark-haired boy standing in front of her. 

“No fair, hiding behind the girls!” Harry pouted, the cookie still held in his hand as he attempted to get around Ginny and Hermione. 

“If he doesn’t want the cookie, he doesn't’ have to eat it,” Hermione said, watching Harry curiously as the teen tried to dart around her again. “Are you even listening to me?” she asked. 

Harry paused in his antics for only a moment. “No,” he said, and moved again to get round her. “Draco only doesn’t want to eat it because he doesn’t know how good it is!” Harry insisted with a wide grin. Deciding that Hermione wasn’t going to let him pass, he tried to get around Ginny. 

Hermione, however, didn’t let him get very far, stepping in his way once more, reaching out and snatching the cookie away from him before tossing it into the fire. 

“It’s not right to force people to do something they don’t want to do,” Hermione snapped, hands on her hips as she glared down at Harry.

Draco frowned, standing up straight from where he had been crouching behind Ginny and watching the interaction carefully. The playful mood shifted to something far more serious, everyone waiting with baited breath to see what Harry would do next. 

Harry, however, simply stared at the fireplace where Hermione had thrown the cookie before shrugging and turning away. “I can just get another,” he said, seeming unfazed by Hermione. 

Hermione wasn’t the type of person to get physical, always more willing to solve things with her words first. However, Hermione also disliked being ignored, and this was the second time Harry was ignoring her in the span of just a few minutes. “Will you stop and listen to me for one second?” Hermione said, reaching out and grabbing hold of Harry’s arm before he could get too far. 

Harry’s head whipped back around to stare at Hermione the moment she came in contact with him. Green eyes went almost impossibly wide as he stared at the bushy haired girl. He could feel everything; even though he was shielding against everyone in the room. It was harder to block someone when he was in direct contact with them. 

Right now, Harry was aware of everything Hermione currently felt. There was irritation and frustration directed at him, along with a deep anger that didn’t seem to have anything to do with him personally; but something he had done, or said, had obviously upset this girl. 

He wanted to pull away, to break the connection. Hermione’s grip on his arm wasn’t that tight and he could have done it easily if he wasn’t losing himself in her emotions. Thankfully his mate was close by.

“Don’t touch him!” Blaise exclaimed, pulling Harry free of her hold. “Are you okay?” he asked urgently, as he gave Harry his full attention. 

Harry nodded vaguely, leaning past Blaise to look at Hermione. “Why are you so mad at me?” he asked sadly, bemused as to what he could have done to make her feel that way.

“You… you were trying to force him,” she said, gesturing toward Draco, “to eat something he didn’t want to. That’s not right.”

“We were just playing,” Draco said, frowning at Hermione. “At least, Harry was just playing,” Draco added, giving his friend a pointed look. 

“You’re mad at me because I wanted Draco to try something tasty?” Harry asked in confusion. 

“I’m not really mad,” Hermione tried to explain, aware now that everyone else was watching them. “It’s just… if someone doesn’t want to do something, you shouldn’t force them to do it,” she told him. 

Theodore stepped up to the group, wrapping his arms around Draco and pulling him close as he glanced around at the occupants of the room. “I think perhaps everyone just overreacted,” he said, looking toward Hermione and Ginny. “It may seem strange to you, but that is how Harry and Draco play around sometimes. If Draco truly didn’t want to eat that cookie, he could have made Harry stop on his own,” Theodore explained. 

“I didn’t want to be force fed the cookie,” Draco huffed, leaning against Theo and throwing a half-hearted glare at Harry. 

“That still seems like a very strange way to play,” Hermione said, sounding sceptical. 

“Not when you’ve grown up with brothers like Fred and George,” Ginny added with a small giggle, gesturing over to where Fred and George were standing in front of Molly, looking a little sheepish as they had finally been stopped by their mother. 

“How about we split into groups and try to sort this mess,” Remus suggested, gesturing to the decorations that had been spread even more thoroughly around the floor.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea!” Molly said, giving her twin boys a look. “Fred, you and Charlie can start in the hallway. Gideon, perhaps you could keep an eye on them.” 

“I’m twenty-three years old, mum,” Charlie protested with a laugh. “I don’t really think I need my uncle looking over my shoulder.” 

“Of course you don’t, my dear,” Molly said indulgently, moving over to him and reaching up to pat his cheek affectionately. “Now, I was thinking I might cook some dinner for us all,” she suggested happily.

“Draco, perhaps you could help Hermione and George with all this tinsel, while Theo and I help Molly?” Remus suggested, knowing that the boy had enjoyed helping in the kitchen the night before. Remus smiled when he saw the look of carefully masked excitement Theo gave him. 

“What about me?” Harry asked from where he was still standing wrapped up in Blaise’s arms. 

“You’re not going to be much help standing around like that,” Sirius said with a chuckle. “Why don’t you two come outside and help decorate out there?” he suggested, gesturing to Harry and Blaise. “Perhaps you could help us too, Ginny?” he asked the red-headed girl, who nodded eagerly, giving Harry and Blaise a shy smile. 

“Percy, Fabian, why don’t you two start unpacking the rest of the boxes so that we can see what else we have,” Remus suggested. “You can also take the empty boxes back up to the attic.” 

“Hear that Percy, you get to do tidying,” George teased. 

“And sorting. Try not to get too excited,” Fred added with a grin, giving his older brother a nudge. 

Percy grumbled something that sounded like ‘I should have just stayed home’ before he went to start the task he had been given. 

“Alright everyone, get to work,” Molly said, making sure that everyone was heading in the direction that their job was before she turned and went into the kitchen. Theodore and Remus followed her. 

\----------------x

Sirius lead his small group of helpers outside carrying a box of lights that he had set aside to decorate the house with. He set it down on the bench nearby and turned to look at the three teens. “Alright, I would love to do this the quick and easy way, but seeing as how it’s probably a bad idea for me to use magic around you two,” he said nodding toward Harry and Blaise, “we get to do this the fun way instead.” Sirius grinned. 

“What’s the fun way?” Blaise asked, sounding a little apprehensive. 

“I’m so glad you asked!” Sirius exclaimed with a grin. “We need to climb onto the roof and hang these lights up there.” 

“I’ll do it,” Blaise said quickly before Harry even had a chance to open his mouth to volunteer. 

“Alright, I’ll go up there first, Blaise you follow. Harry, Ginny, you two can hand stuff up to us when we ask for it,” Sirius said. Blaise nodded his understanding, and waited for Sirius to set up the ladder, watching as the man climbed up to the roof.

Harry stood back, giving Blaise a small knowing smile as he knew why his mate had insisted on being the one to climb up on the roof. Though Harry wasn’t going to complain, as he was still trying to center himself again after being swarmed by someone else’s emotions. 

Letting out a small sigh, Harry turned his attention toward the house again; he couldn’t see the bushy haired girl from where he was currently standing in the backyard. He was still confused about why she had been so upset by his and Draco’s playing around. 

“Are you okay?” 

Harry turned quickly to look at Ginny. He hadn’t noticed her watching him. “I’m fine,” he replied quickly, 

“That was the most unconvincing ‘I’m fine’ I’ve ever heard,” Ginny scoffed. “I mean, it’s not like you have any obligation to tell me, I was just curious. You seemed a bit upset.” 

Harry frowned and looked up to where Blaise and Sirius were on the roof. “It’s nothing really important,” Harry said softly. “It’s just…I don’t think anyone’s just not liked me before,” he admitted. 

“Who doesn’t like you?” Ginny questioned. 

“That girl from before. I really don’t think she likes me. She was so upset when I was playing with Draco…” Harry said looking back toward the redheaded girl. 

“You mean Hermione? She doesn’t hate you,” Ginny said, seeming surprised that Harry thought so. 

“She does,” Harry insisted, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest. 

“She might have been a bit upset when you ignored her. She really doesn’t like being ignored, and you trying to run around us while she was trying to talk probably didn’t help either,” Ginny explained. 

“So… I shouldn’t play with Draco when she’s around?” Harry asked as he sat down in the snow, glancing at Ginny when she knelt beside him. “This place has more rules than the Fae city,” he mumbled. 

“It’s not really a rule. I’m just trying to help you understand why Hermione was upset,” Ginny said, watching as Harry started picking up handfuls of snow and shaping them into little snow bunnies with practised ease. 

“All I know is what I felt, and the only reason I can think of for her to be so mad was that she hates me,” Harry said, waving his hand over the bunnies made of snow, giggling as they started hopping around. 

“What do you mean, what you felt from her?” Ginny inquired, watching Harry and the ten snow bunnies. Harry looked up from the little creatures he had made, a thoughtful frown on his face. 

“I’m Empathic. I can feel what other people are feeling, almost all the time,” Harry said, and saw the look of disbelief that Ginny was giving him. 

“Give me your hand,” he said, reaching out. 

“Why?” Ginny pulled her hands tighter against her. She had grown up watching Fred and George too often to trust anyone who just asked for your hand. 

“You don’t believe me, so I’m going to show you,” Harry said. 

Ginny studied him for a long moment before hesitantly reaching her hand out for his. Harry’s smile widened, and he wrapped his hand around hers; he had done this with Blaise, and a few times with Draco, but he had never purposefully opened his mind to someone he didn’t know. 

He felt every surface emotion from Ginny; the curiosity she felt not only toward him, but toward Blaise, Draco and Theo as well. That was something Harry was getting used to though, nearly everyone he had encountered in the wizarding world so far was very curious about them, and where they came from. 

Under that, however, Harry felt traces of other emotions, amusement, kindness being the loudest next to the curiosity. And determination. Harry didn’t get much further than that, when concern suddenly flooded his senses and the connection was broken suddenly and he found himself lying in the snow, staring up at the red-headed girl, who was leaning over him. 

“Harry, are you okay?” Ginny asked. 

“I think so. What happened?” Harry asked, sitting up slowly. Ginny was hovering as if she wanted to help him, but was unsure if she should touch him again. 

“I don’t know. You suddenly went really pale and looked like you were going to pass out,” she said. 

Harry frowned. “Weird. That’s never happened before,” he admitted, turning around where he sat and looking up at the roof. Blaise was still up there, following orders from Sirius, who was showing him where to hang the christmas lights. 

The tan teen apparently hadn’t noticed anything, and Harry silently debated with himself if he should tell Blaise or not. However, the last thing Harry wanted to do was give his mate yet another thing to worry about, so he decided to keep his mouth shut for now, unless it happened again. Nodding to himself, he turned his attention back toward Ginny, who was still hovering nearby. 

“Do you find me amusing?” Harry asked. He laughed at the shocked look Ginny gave him. 

“What?” she asked. 

“That’s what I felt from you,” Harry giggled, “you were amused, and I was wondering if you found me amusing.” 

“Maybe,” Ginny said uncertainly. “I don’t mean that in a bad way, but you are kind of… different. A little weird. Part of it was probably that I found your snow rabbits kind of funny,” she told him, gesturing to the little snow creatures that were still hopping around nearby.

“Do you think that girl, Hermione, would like one?” Harry asked, suddenly sounding eager. He still wanted her to like him, and a gift seemed like a good place to start.

“I think she would love for you to teach her how to make them,” Ginny told him with an amused smirk. “Hermione always likes to learn new things,” she explained. 

“Me too,” Harry said, as he rolled over onto his knees and crawled a few paces to one of the snow bunnies. “I think I’ll give her this one,” he said softly, picking it up with great care. 

He moved to get to his feet, but it was kind of an awkward maneuver with both his hands occupied by the bunny. He gasped when he felt a hand on his arm, instinctively flinching away, but he felt nothing but amusement and a kind affection, and when he turned to look up at Ginny, she was smiling sweetly.

“Thanks,” he said sheepishly, as she helped him up to his feet, snow bunny still safely in hand.

“No problem; looked like you were having trouble,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “And I didn’t want you falling over and ruining your creatures. Or breaking your nose.”

“We need the next lights up here,” Sirius called down, causing both Harry and Ginny to jump in surprise, their eyes turning upwards to the roof, where Blaise and Sirius were watching them. “If you can get them out of the box I can probably levitate them up.”

“I’ll get them,” Ginny said, spotting the pensive expression on Harry’s face, as he tried to work out how he was going to sort lights and keep hold of the snow bunny. “Why don’t you go give that to Hermione.”

“Thanks!” Harry said excitedly, turning back toward the house and darting across the patio as Ginny went to pull the lights out of the box.

“Harry, where are you going?” Blaise called after him. 

“I’ll be right back!” was Harry’s rushed reply as he used his magic to open the back door and close it behind him. 

\---------------x

Draco watched as almost everyone else left the sitting room, leaving him alone with four people he didn’t know. The two Remus had referred to as Fabian and Percy moved over to the couple of boxes that still had anything in them. So Draco turned to look at the other two, waiting for someone to tell him where to start. He crossed his arms over his chest when neither Hermione or George moved. 

“If you’re waiting for me to start giving orders, it’s not going to happen,” Draco informed them. 

“Well, this is your house isn’t it?” George asked. 

“I don’t have a house,” Draco stated. “I am currently staying here with my mate and friends, but this is not my house, and I have never done anything like this before,” he gestured to the tinsel on the floor, and the large christmas tree. 

“You’ve never hung decorations before?” Hermione asked incredulously. 

“We have never done Christmas before,” Draco amended, causing George to gasp.

“No Christmas?” George asked, as though he couldn’t imagine anything more scandalous. “What rock have you guys been living under?”

Draco frowned in confusion. “No rocks. Well, there were rocks on the ground, but we lived over them not under. We did live under trees though. The Fae really like their trees. I like them too.”

“Did you live in the trees?” Hermione asked, eager to find out more.

Draco stared at her, blinking a couple of times before he answered. “No. We lived in a big house. Though the Council Halls did have a tree inside,” he added after a moment of thought.”

“Fascinating,” Hermione declared, taking Draco by the hand and all but dragging him over to the sofa and sitting down, pulling him down next to her. “What else can you tell me?” she asked excitedly. 

“Really, Hermione?” George asked with a exasperated sigh. Draco continued to stare at Hermione, looking briefly toward George when the red head spoke, before returning his attention to the bushy haired girl. 

Draco slowly removed his hand from hers. “Are trees really that interesting to you? I don’t think you need me to tell you about them, seeing as there are plenty around this house,” Draco said.

“No, it’s not really the trees that I’m interested in. You said the Fae liked trees, and you mentioned a Council Hall. What else can you tell me?” Hermione asked. 

Draco narrowed his eyes and moved to stand up. “I’m not telling anyone how we grew up,” he said defensively. He didn’t know why people kept asking them about the Fae, or how they grew up. What Draco did know, however, was that he, and all the other kids, had been used by the Fae their whole lives, and he wasn’t about to be set up in a position to be used like that again. 

“I… I’m sorry,” Hermione said. “I was just curious. I’ve read lots of books about Fae, but most of the information I have doesn’t really make sense; they just seem like stories to me,” she explained. 

“Hermione is a walking library,” George said, gaining Draco’s attention again. “Ask her anything and she probably knows the answer, any chance of gathering new information is really exciting for her,” George explained. 

“So, you weren’t asking because you want to know where the other kids are?” Draco asked, looking back at Hermione. 

“No, I really am just curious, even if you only tell me how the government works, or what the Fae are like,” Hermione said and Draco sat back down on the couch. 

“That should be okay I think,” Draco said, glancing at George as the redhead leaned over the back of the couch also seeming interested. “I don’t know much about the government, but I know the Council is in charge. I could tell you about the Healers though,” he said with more enthusiasm. “They were teaching me how to use my magic to heal.” 

“Really?” Hermione perked up, her hands twitching like she very much wished she had a quill and parchment with her to take notes. “Wizards aren’t generally taught much in the way of healing in my experience. Did the Fae teach you all healing?”

“The basics, yes, but nothing in-depth” Draco told her, shaking his head. “That was just those of us with an affinity for it.” 

“I see. I wonder if there are witches and wizards with an affinity for such magic too,” she pondered, more to herself that to anyone else.

“We’ll find you a library to look it up in soon,” George promised, looking like he was having trouble keeping from laughing at his twin’s girlfriend. Hermione distractedly hummed her approval of that idea, her brain still on what Draco was telling her. “She loves her books,” George explained to Draco. 

Draco seemed unsure what to make of either of these people, but he resisted the urge to go hunting for his mate or Harry and instead nodded. “Should we maybe sort the tinsel?” he suggested, hoping that Hermione might save whatever other questions she had for when the others were around to answer them. 

“Yeah, we probably should at least make a start at it,” George said, moving around the couch to sit on the floor in front of the pile that Draco and Harry had been hiding under earlier. Hermione moved to join him, and Draco hesitated for a moment before sliding to the floor as well to help separate the pile. 

“So have you really never decorated for Christmas before?” Hermione asked. 

Draco refrained from sighing and shook his head. “No, we’ve never even heard of Christmas,” he admitted. “Remus explained a little bit of it to us, but I still don’t understand what the big deal about it is, or where the tree even comes into it…” 

“I could try and explain it to you,” Hermione offered. Draco frowned, looking down at the tinsel he was working with before nodding, deciding that he was far too curious about the whole thing to wait for Harry and the others. “Alright then,” Hermione said happily, before launching into a detailed explanation of the origins of the festival. 

Fabian hid his smile, which formed at the sound of the three teenagers bonding. He was glad that Draco seemed to be opening up; even though he had only seen the boys once before today, he had gotten the impression that Draco was more shy than the other three. 

As he listened in on the teens’ conversation it was becoming clearer to him now why the four boys were reluctant to talk about their past. Saying the boys had a sheltered life until now really didn’t describe them at all. To him, it seemed more like these four boys were a failed attempt at brainwashing. He would definitely need to pass that along to Frank, Sirius, and Dumbledore.

“Uncle Fabian?” Percy came to stand in front of his uncle, blocking the older man’s view of the three teens sitting on the floor. 

“Sorry, Percy, spacing out for a moment there. Come on, why don’t we start moving these boxes,” Fabian said, taking out his wand and waving it at the empty boxes, stacking them up by the doorway leading out into the hall so they could take them back up to the attic after. “I’ve got these. If you want to take that box there into the kitchen, it’s full of all the kitchen decorations.” 

“Of course,” Percy agreed easily, picking up the box in question. 

He followed the direction that his mother and Remus had taken the Theo boy earlier, frowning disapprovingly at the mess that was all over the floor still. He couldn’t believe how much mess the four boys had managed to make before they had arrived. And with the chasing each other around the living room, it was apparent to him that Harry and Draco were just as childish as Fred and George, if not more so. 

Percy glanced at Draco as he passed him. He wasn't sure what to make of the four boys, but as he entered the kitchen, he was glad to see that Theo at least knew how to behave like a civilised person. 

“That’s right. Then we just add that to the pan,” his mother was saying, and Theo followed her instructions before stirring whatever it was they were cooking. 

“You okay, Percy?” Remus asked, spotting him standing near the doorway, box still in hand. “Decorations for in here?”

“Fabian asked me to bring them through,” Percy explained as his mother and Theo both looked up as well. 

“Thank you,” Remus said. “You can just put it on the table.” The werewolf went to the sink to wash his hands and dry them, before turning to go investigate what was in the box. Percy watched him, before glancing back at Theodore, frowning when he saw the other teen was still watching him. 

They stared at each other for a moment, and Percy wasn’t fond of the way Theo seemed to be studying him. “What?” he finally asked. 

“You look a lot like someone we know,” Theo said, however he didn’t elaborate further, and he continued looking at Percy, as if trying to solve some sort of puzzle. 

“I look like the rest of my family,” Percy pointed out, “and quite a few of them are here today so yes, I would have to agree that I do look like someone you know.”

“So all of your family looks like you?” Theodore asked, looking from Percy to Molly, he could see the family resemblance between the woman and her children, though as he looked back at Percy once more he nodded once. “Then you must be Ron’s family,” he said. 

There was a clatter next to him, and he turned to look at Molly again. The woman was staring at him and seemed to be a shade paler. “What… what did you say?” she asked. 

Theodore now wondered if he should have just kept his mouth shut, but he couldn’t help himself. Since they had arrived in the wizarding world they had met multiple families, most of them having children that were taken by the Fae, children that Theo knew. And in this case, he had actually shared a room with Ron, the missing child of an already large family. 

“I was just thinking, if all your family looks alike, then Ron must be part of your family too,” Theodore said. 

“You know Ron,” Molly said, and Theo really did wish he hadn’t said anything when he saw the woman’s eyes shining with tears. “So, he is actually alive.” Molly sounded relieved. 

“Yeah, he’s alive,” Theo told her a little awkwardly. “He’s a complete pain in the arse sometimes, but definitely alive.”

“Sounds like you know him quite well,” Percy said. 

“I had to share a room with him, and spent a lot of sleepless nights with his snoring until I could silence him,” Theo said, wishing he could find a way to get out of this conversation before someone started asking questions that he couldn’t answer. 

“What else can you tell us about him?” Molly asked. “Is he well? Does he eat properly? Would you be able to take us to him? Or bring him here?” 

Theodore winced as he listened to Molly ask him one question after another, hardly giving him time to answer one before she asked another. “I… I can’t,” Theo said, feeling horribly guilty when he saw the hurt expression Molly gave him. Turning Theo quickly left the room, sidestepping Remus, who tried to stop him. 

“Theo wait,” Remus said, though he wasn’t surprised when the teen ignored him. Remus didn’t follow him, instead he turned toward Molly. “I think there’re a few things I should have explained earlier,” the werewolf said. 

\-------------x

Theodore couldn’t remember the last time he had been this upset over anything; the warring negative emotions clouding his mind right now made him extremely happy that Harry had been taken outside. The last thing Theo needed right now was for his small friend to be subjected to these feelings of anger and guilt. 

Stepping into the sitting room, Theo’s gaze found Draco immediately. Without saying a word he stormed over to the blond and pulled him to his feet. 

“Theo?” Draco asked, but Theo just shook his head. 

Taking hold of his mate’s hand, Theo led Draco out of the sitting room and up the stairs, both of them ignoring the questions from Fred, Charlie and Gideon, who were in the hallway winding decorations around the banister. Theo was barely holding onto his emotions and just had to get away from the strangers, away from Ron’s family. 

“Theo, you’re worrying me,” Draco said as they reached the top landing. 

“Not here,” Theo said, and he continued leading Draco down the hall and into their room. He didn’t stop until the door was closed and warded tightly behind them. 

“Theo…” Draco started to say again, but he was cut off in a gasp, when his mate pulled him into a tight embrace. 

He sighed softly and wrapped his arms around Theo’s waist, letting his mate take the comfort he apparently needed. Theo took deep shuddering breaths, which only worried Draco further; Theo was normally so collected, calm and in control, and Draco wasn’t sure how to deal with his mate when he was in this state.

“What happened?” Draco asked, making no attempt to move from his hold. 

“Those people down there, all those red-heads, each and every one of them are Ron’s family,” Theo explained, not sure if Draco could even understand why this was upsetting him. Theo felt his mate shift and pull away just enough so that Theo could now see his face, those grey eyes full of worry, and sadness. 

“That lady asked if I could take her to Ron,” Theodore sighed, feeling calmer now that he was alone with Draco. 

“We can’t,” Draco gasped, looking rather alarmed at the prospect.

“I know. I told her,” Theo said sadly, fresh guilt washing over him. He couldn’t shake the way that Molly had looked at him, the sheer desperation in her eyes. And she had been so nice to him, giving them sugar cookies and teaching him how to cook. He wished he could help her, but it just wasn’t an option. Even if they had the means to get back, he wouldn’t risk leading the Fae to Draco, Harry, or Blaise. 

“It was just harder to tell her no,” Theo explained closing his eyes and letting out a long sigh. 

“Theo,” Draco said softly, reaching up and cupping his mate’s cheek. “I know I’ve been whining a lot, and I hardly stop complaining about the food that’s here, or the weird people around, and I could certainly live without the pitiful excuse for magic,” Draco said, feeling happy when Theo’s lips twitched into a small smile, even though his eyes were still closed. 

“Are you trying to make me feel better?” Theo asked. 

“Shut up and listen,” Draco ordered. “Despite how uncomfortable this place and all the new people make me feel, I am glad that Itham helped us get away. Right now we need to worry about taking care of ourselves, and getting used to this new world, and then we can worry about how to get the others out of the Fae city if Itham hasn’t done that already.” 

Theo opened his eyes to stare down at Draco. While Theo wished there was more he could do to at least help Molly, he knew it wasn’t possible at this time, and worrying about it wasn’t going to get him anywhere. 

Draco smiled up at Theo when he saw his mate visibly relax. They both stood there for a long moment, just looking at each other when a sudden and random thought crossed Draco’s mind. Before he could think twice, the blond leaned up and pressed his lips to Theo’s. 

Despite his surprise, Theo moaned softly in approval, his arm tightening around Draco as he let his mate kiss him. He could hear his own blood pumping and let Draco control the moment; he was hesitant to press forward, like he so desperately want to, not wanting to discourage Draco’s spontaneity. 

As his mate pulled back, Theo took a moment to let his gaze drift over Draco’s flushed skin and obviously just kissed lips. It was certainly a look he admired. Draco, however, did seem rather stunned, presumably at his own impulsiveness. 

“Why don’t we lay down for a bit,” Theo suggested, before Draco had a chance to overthink what had just happened. Draco still seemed somewhat out of it, but he offered no protest as Theo led him over towards the large bed, that took up most of the room. “Draco?”

“Hmm?” his mate hummed, turning to meet his eye, as Theo took a seat on the edge of the mattress. Theo watched Draco with an indulgent smile. 

“Want to lie down with me for a while?” Theo asked. “I’m not ready to go back downstairs just yet,” he explained. 

Draco said nothing, but simply climbed onto the bed. And as Theo lay down, Draco cuddled himself up against Theo’s side. Theo took a deep breath, relishing the feel of having Draco so close, letting his mate’s presence calm him further. He would just close his eyes for a minute.

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a list of things that you can look forward to in 2017!  
> First up, CelticKitsune has posted the sequel to Unwanted Bonds. Titled Unbreakable Bonds!  
> Second, we have two other stories in the works that we will be writing together! No details about either of them at the moment, but as the year progresses there may be some things posted on our facebook pages. So feel free to look us up on there!
> 
> Celtic Kitsune  
> Bick Ster


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, as always, to Emily for beta-reading this chapter. 

**Chapter 13**

_24th December 1995_

 

It was Christmas Eve morning, and Remus was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping at his tea, copy of the Daily Prophet spread in front of him. It was early, a little after six in the morning, and there was no hint of the sun in the sky yet, so he was momentarily surprised to hear footsteps on the stairs. He had a feeling who it might be though.

 

“Morning,” a sleepy voice said from near the door, and Remus looked up and gave Theo a smile.

 

“Morning, Theo,” he greeted. “There’s tea in the pot.”

 

Theo nodded gratefully, smothering a yawn with the back of his hand as he headed over to pour himself a cup.

 

Draco and Theo hadn’t reappeared the afternoon before. Remus had gone to check on the boys after the Weasley horde had all left, wanting to talk to them, but the two had already been fast asleep, cuddled together. He wasn’t quite sure what to say to Theo now, but he knew that they had to talk about what had happened in the kitchen the day before.

 

“Draco still sleeping?” Remus asked, as Theo took a seat across from him.

 

“Yeah. But I don’t think he’ll be sleeping much longer. Neither of us meant to fall asleep yesterday,” Theo admitted.

 

“I’m honestly not surprised. All four of you boys have had a long few days. It was bound to catch up to you eventually,” Remus said. Even though he still didn’t know what the boys had gone through to get out of the Fae city, Remus assumed that it hadn’t been all that easy.

 

“I do feel better for that long sleep,” Theo told him. “Though waking up might take me a little while,” he added, causing both Remus and Theo to chuckle quietly. “So what has you up at this hour?”

 

“Oh, I just tend to like my early mornings,” Remus explained. “Gives me a chance to read the paper and have my tea in peace before Storm Sirius awakens.”

 

“Oh, sorry, I can leave you to it,” Theo said apologetically, moving to stand. Remus, however, reached out and put a hand over his.

 

“That’s not what I meant at all,” Remus assured him kindly. “I am simply used to being up at this hour. I do no mind the company. I rather like it to be honest.”

 

“If you’re sure,” Theo sounded uncertain, watching Remus for any hint of deception; he found none.

 

“I am,” Remus confirmed. “I was actually hoping we might have a chance to talk.”

 

“About what?” Theo asked apprehensively, focusing on his tea so that he wouldn’t have to meet Remus’ eye. He suspected what it was that Remus wanted to talk about, and even though Theo didn’t want to discuss what had happened before he had run out of the kitchen yesterday, he felt that he owed at least some sort of explanation. Though at the same time, he wasn’t about to offer the information freely, in case it turned out that wasn’t what Remus wanted to discuss.

 

“About why Molly’s questions upset you so much,” Remus said, giving Theo a sad smile. “I understand that you boys don’t like talking about your lives with the Fae much, but you seemed particularly shaken.”

 

“We can’t go back,” Theo told him firmly. “We can’t take you there.”

 

“Can’t or won’t?” Remus asked, but he quickly shook his head when Theo’s expression became annoyed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted to know if you would be able to get to the Fae city if you wanted to.”

 

“The only way we will ever be able to go back there is if the Fae somehow find us and force us to go back,” Theo said. “If there was a way to go back and get our friends out, we would have told someone, but we can NOT go back,” Theo said wanting to get the point across once and for all.

 

Theo relaxed a little when Remus nodded his head in understanding. “Getting out of there isn’t easy. If we hadn’t had help, we wouldn’t have made it either.” Theo took a long sip of his tea. It was difficult to believe that it had already been over a week since Harry and Blaise had first found those files.

 

“You had help?” Remus asked eagerly. It was the first time any of them had willingly offered any information about how they had found their way back to the Wizarding World.

 

“I’m not comfortable talking about this,” Theo admitted.

 

“You don’t have to then. I just want to understand you boys a bit better,” Remus said, frowning when Theo shook his head.

 

“It’s not fair that we haven’t told you anything, and I’m hoping that by telling you this, explain how we got away, we won’t be asked to go back there,” Theo said his gaze still fixed on his tea.

 

Remus watched the teen sitting across from him, studying the boy’s posture, and the way his hands were clutching the mug. Theodore seemed almost frightened by the thought of going back to the Fae city. “No one wants to make you go back there,” Remus said, hoping to reassure Theo.

 

“I’m not worried about anyone here making us go back,” Theo said. “I’m more worried about what’s going to happen if they find us,” he sighed and sipped at his tea again.

 

“Theo,” Remus started to say, but the teen suddenly looked up at him.

 

“Just let me talk. If I don’t do this now, I’m not going to,” Theo said firmly, waiting for Remus to nod his head. Theo let out a small sigh.

 

“To answer your question from before, yes, we had help escaping, from someone in charge of the city. I’m sure there were others involved as well, but Itham is the one that opened the portal for us and sent us away,” Theo said, thinking back to that night and how surprised he had felt when Itham had shown up.

 

“A portal?” Remus asked and Theo nodded.

 

“Portals are the only way in or out of the Fae city, that I know of.  The whole city is surrounded by forest; it keeps it hidden, and keep them protected,” Theo finished the last bit of his tea setting the cup back down. “But it also keeps us from escaping.”

 

“So if you hadn’t had help…”

 

“We’d probably be lying dead in the woods somewhere. Our escape was rushed, and not planned very well. But we didn’t have time to plan.  Harry was putting himself in danger daily by that point, and Blaise was afraid that if we didn’t leave immediately that Harry was going to try and leave without us,” Theo rambled. “We did all we could, but if Itham hadn’t shown up to help…”

 

“It’s okay,” Remus assured him, seeing that Theo seemed upset by their almost failed attempt. “Itham did show up and you are safe now.”

 

“But we nearly got Harry and Draco killed.”

 

“You don’t know that, Theo. There’s no telling what would have happened,” Remus said, reaching across the table to rest his hand on Theo’s, trying to comfort the teen.

 

Theo pulled his hand back sharply. “I DO know what would have happened! They would have both died, just like Adrian did! And it would have been our fault.” Theo breathed in deeply, closing his eyes; he had to calm down, he hadn’t meant to say so much, and Remus was correct of course, Harry and Draco hadn’t died, Itham had shown up, and they were safe.

 

“Theo,” Remus said, the tone of voice he used demanding that Theo look at him. Opening his eyes to look back at the werewolf, Theo stared into those golden eyes as Remus continued speaking. “I know that you and Blaise have been raised to protect and care for Harry and Draco, but you are both still children too.”

 

“That’s not the point,” Theo argued irritably.

 

“That’s exactly the point,” Remus countered. “You take too much on yourself, Theo. I am not saying that you need to stop taking care of Draco, but you don’t have to take responsibility for his safety on your shoulders alone.”

 

“I’m his mate,” Theo said.

 

“And you always will be, but there are others here that can help you take care of him now. Sirius and I are here to take care of all you boys,” Remus said.

 

Theo took a deep breath rubbing a hand over his face. “You don’t understand.  I’m his mate.  I’m responsible for him. That… that’s how we were raised. If something happens to our mate, we’re better off just being dead,” Theo said miserably.

 

“No!” Remus snapped. “This is what I mean, that is taking too much onto yourself, I understand that is how you were raised, but it’s wrong.”

 

Theo stared at Remus with wide eyes, trying to wrap his mind around what the werewolf was saying. While he did understand it, and could tell just from watching Remus and Sirius that mateships worked differently in the wizarding world, Theo couldn’t just turn his back on things he had been taught since he was old enough to speak.

 

“I am not asking for an overnight change of thinking,” Remus added, when Theo said nothing. “But maybe it is something you could just consider?”

 

“I’ll consider it,” Theo finally said, standing and removing his empty mug from the table. He dropped it into the sink. “I’m going to go see if Draco’s awake,” he said, and went to leave the kitchen, pausing only for a moment when he saw Sirius walk in. Theo mumbled a good morning to him before he hurried passed.

 

Sirius watched Theo go silently before turning to look at Remus giving his mate a wide smile.

 

“Why are you so happy this morning?” Remus asked, raising an eyebrow at his boyfriend.

 

“Oh, no reason, I’m just glad that you finally know what James and I went through for all those years trying to convince you that you’re not a monster,” Sirius said, going over to start himself a fresh pot of coffee. “At least that should be a bit comforting to you.  Give it fifteen years or so, and Theo might actually believe you,” Sirius said, and received a stinging hex on the back of his head.

 

\---------------x

 

Theo had been right, and Draco had woken not long after he had headed back upstairs, but the two of them stayed upstairs with Harry and Blaise, while their friends remained sleeping for another couple of hours. It seemed that the excitement over the last few days had finally caught up with them as well.

 

Sirius didn’t really want to wake them, as it seemed they were getting sleep they obviously needed, however Sirius and Remus wanted to take the boys shopping for new clothes, and there was still Christmas shopping to get done as well. As the clock reached ten thirty in the morning, Sirius decided that it was time to get the boys out of bed.

 

“Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve.  I’ve definitely lost my mind,” Sirius mumbled to himself as he climbed the stairs heading toward Harry’s room. He only peeked inside to see if Harry had actually remained in his own bed last night, unsurprised to find it empty, before heading down to Draco’s room.

 

Sirius knocked on the door, waiting for a moment to see if the boys were awake already. He smiled when he heard a muffled giggle coming from the other side of the door.

 

“If you boys are awake, it’s time to get up,” Sirius said through the door. There was another giggle as an answer and he sighed. “We don’t have time to play around this morning.  Remus and I are taking you four shopping,” Sirius said opening the door to see what the boys were doing.

 

He only got a glimpse of Harry and Draco’s smiling faces before his vision was obstructed by a giant mass of white as he was attacked by snowballs, each one flying at his face before exploding right before impact.

 

Sirius cried out in surprise, stumbling back from the door and falling over onto the floor. Harry and Draco’s laughter filled the hallway as Sirius sat up to see what it was that had actually attacked him. He frowned when he saw twenty of Harry’s snow bunnies bouncing around on the floor leaving wet splotches where they landed.

 

“Harry!” Sirius protested, knowing that Remus would insist on the mess being cleaned up before they could go anywhere. “How many did you and Hermione make of these things?” he asked, as he scrabbled to get out of the way when several more of the kamikaze snowbunnies jumped towards him and exploded in a shower of wet snow.

 

“Lots!” Harry exclaimed happily. He had been so happy that Hermione had accepted his gift, and just as Ginny had predicted, the girl had wanted to know how they were made. The two of them had enjoyed bonding over the little snow creatures.

 

“Well, that’s good, and as cute as they are, they really don’t belong in the house Harry, so why don’t we toss these outside and then clean up this mess,” Sirius said, letting out another yell as the last few of the snow bunnies jumped at him before exploding.

 

“Okay, the bunnies are gone,” Harry laughed, running out of the room and splashing through the wet floor.

 

“Harry,” Sirius sighed. It was clear that Harry wasn’t really listening however, and so he drew his wand from his pocket and started to syphon the water out of the carpet, sending it swirling through the air down the corridor and into the bathroom. It was, despite the strange feel to Sirius’ magic, quite an impressive sight, and the four boys watched on silently until the floor was once again dry.

 

“Spoil-sport,” Harry said looking at his godfather with an exaggerated pout.

 

“Just keeping you from getting a real telling off from Remus,” Sirius told him with a grin, throwing an arm over Harry’s shoulders. “Come on you lot, get yourselves dress and be downstairs in ten,” he instructed, leading Harry back over to where Blaise, Theo and Draco were standing in the doorway to Draco’s bedroom.

 

“Why?” Harry asked.

 

“Because I’m taking you lot to get new clothes, and get Christmas shopping done,” Sirius said. “Now I mean it.  Ten minutes, or I’m leaving without you,” Sirius said and left the boys to get dressed. “Oh, and no more snow bunnies in the house!” Sirius called behind him from the stairs.

 

Remus was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for Sirius, smirking at his boyfriend. “What was all that about snow bunnies in the house?” he asked.

 

“Nothing, dear,” Sirius grinned, “the boys will be down in a few minutes, then we can get going,” Sirius went to move passed Remus, but the werewolf stopped him.

 

“You’re really good with those boys,” Remus said, pulling Sirius in for a quick kiss.

 

“What was that for?” Sirius asked, grinning widely.

 

“Because you’re proving exactly why James made you Harry’s godfather,” Remus replied.

 

“Aww, and here I thought it was because you found me sexy.” Sirius laughed when Remus smacked his arm, shaking his head.

 

“No, I think you’re impossible,” Remus said.

 

“Impossibly sexy,” Sirius prompted, smiling as his comment actually got a laugh from Remus.

 

“Impossible, stubborn, inflated ego, handsome, and yes, there are times I find you quite sexy,” Remus said, kissing Sirius again. “Now come get me when those boys are ready to leave.” Remus left Sirius standing at the bottom of the stairs, heading back into the sitting room.

 

\---------------x

 

Severus was sitting in his usual chair in the sitting room, a book sitting open on his lap as he attempted to read. This was made difficult because Lily had been pacing the length of the room for the last half hour.

 

“It is not even noon yet. And you know that it isn’t a guarantee that Fabian will even be coming today,” Severus reminded her.

 

“He said he was going to be here. He said he was bringing pictures of Harry with him,” Lily said, and Severus sighed, closing the book that was in his lap.

 

“I know what he said, and I think you are both being extremely foolish about this. He can bring you pictures, and you can look at them, but you can not keep them here, Lily,” Severus said. “If they were found by a death eater or if, Merlin forbid, the Dark Lord himself decides to drop by for a visit and discovers them…” Severus trailed off, knowing that he didn’t have to go into detail about what would happen.

 

“I just want to see him, Severus,” Lily insisted. “And since I can’t go in person, pictures are the next best thing right now.”

 

Severus let out a long sigh, rubbing his temples to ward off the oncoming headache. “We’ve been over this time and time again as well, if I could allow you to leave you know I would. I hate keeping you locked up here,” Severus said. It was an argument that he and Lily had almost constantly, and he should have expected it to be brought up again now that Lily knew her son was not only alive, but was home.

 

“You could let me leave if you really wanted to, all you would have to do is open the floo network for me and I’d be gone,” Lily said. “And you-”

 

“Would be on the run from the most evil wizard of our lifetime,” Severus snapped. “But if that is what you want, for me to die for you, then by all means, go.” Severus waved his hand toward the fireplace, watching as Lily actually looked toward it for a moment.

 

“That’s not fair, Severus,” Lily said, glaring as she turned back to him.

 

“I learned at a very young age that life is never fair,” Severus said, waiting to see what Lily would say or do next.

 

“Really, Severus?” Lily asked incredulously. “Was that actually a ploy for sympathy, or you just trying to make me feel guilty for complaining about this shit situation? I’ve known you for twenty-four years, and have lived with you for the last fifteen, I’m not buying into your whole, ‘woe betide me’ act.”

 

“You are not the only one who would choose things to be different,” Severus pointed out through a fiercely maintained calm.

 

“And I would change those things for you too, if I could,” Lily pointed out firmly, not looking remotely amused by Severus’ self-pity. “What I don’t understand is why you absolutely refuse to change things now.  We are both prisoners in this house. You have someone out there who loves you, and my son is now out there too. Give me one good reason why we both can’t just leave, and tell Voldemort to go fuck himself.”

 

“Because he would never let either of us be. There is no where we could go that he wouldn’t find us,” Severus snapped angrily. “And you want to leave and be with your son. You would put Harry in that danger?”

 

“We could find a way!” Lily shouted back.

 

“And it was that kind of Gryffindor 'hope for the best' attitude that got your precious Potter killed," Severus argued. The silence of the room was suddenly oppressive, as Lily’s eyes narrowed in dangerous anger. Severus felt himself tense, ready to grab his wand to deflect whatever hex was thrown at him, but it never came.

 

Lily said nothing as she turned and stormed from the room, slamming the door on her way out. A few books on the closest book cases rattled with the bang of it, one toppled to the floor, and then the only sound was the thud, thud, thud of Lily’s heavy footfall above.

 

“Oh Merlin, what happened?” Fabian asked, and Severus spun around quickly, wand out and pointed at his boyfriend. He hadn’t even heard him arrive.

 

“Nothing,” Severus insisted, lowering his wand and moving to pick up the fallen book from the floor. “She’s sulking.”

 

“Okay, so what I really want to be asking is ‘Oh Merlin, what did you say this time?’ then,” Fabian stated smugly, dropping himself into Severus’ favourite seat.

 

Severus was scowling when he turned back to his boyfriend, an expression that deepened when he saw that his chair was now occupied. “None of your business,” he sniped, pushing the book back into its rightful place and moving over to the settee and taking a seat there instead.

 

“Right, of course,” Fabian said dismissively with a roll of his eyes. He knew that was going to be as close to Severus admitting guilt as he would ever get and that there was no point in pursuing the matter further.

 

It wasn’t the first time he had caught the two of them at some point during an argument and it was always the same; Severus never wanted to discuss it, and Lily just wanted to complain about what an insensitive jerk Severus could be.

 

“So, I can stay tonight,” Fabian said, a smirk twitching at his lips. Severus’ severe expression barely shifted, but Fabian could see how it softened around the edges. “My whole family is running circles around each other, and Molly was too glad not to have to find another bed to ask too many questions,” he said, as he unfolded himself from the chair and moved swiftly towards Severus.

 

“I suppose I could find space for you,” Severus agreed, as Fabian slid forward to straddle his lap.

 

“I promise to cuddle extra close so not to take up much space,” Fabian told him earnestly. “We should not even bother with pyjamas; they would take up precious room on the bed.”

 

“Mhmm,” Severus hummed in agreement. “And here I was thinking that Weasleys couldn’t be smart,” he teased, before pulling Fabian down for a kiss. Fabian pushed Severus further back on the settee, quickly taking control of the kiss and deepening it.

 

Severus let this continue until he felt Fabian’s hands start to wander. Reaching up he gently pushed Fabian to sit up right again, raising an eyebrow when Fabian gave him an exaggerated pout. “You are no better than the teenagers at school.”

 

“What, you’ve never had sex on a settee before?” Fabian grinned.

 

“Not when there is someone upstairs who could walk in on us at any moment,” Severus said firmly.

 

“So, you’d have no problem with it if Lily wasn’t here?” Fabian yelped as he was abruptly pushed from Severus’ lap and landed on the floor.

 

“Insufferable,” Severus muttered, as he elegantly stood. Pulling out his wand he gave it a gentle flick. The small buttons of his outer-robe began slipping free of the buttonholes, one after another, and Fabian watched on from his place on the rug as Severus slid the robe from his shoulder and laid it over the back of his chair.

 

“Undoing buttons should not be that sexy,” Fabian stated firmly, pushing himself to his feet and going after his boyfriend, as Severus headed out the door that Lily had slammed earlier. Fabian followed Severus up the stairs.

 

“Must you walk so close?” Severus asked.

 

“Mhmm, I must,” Fabian told him, deliberately trailing his hands over his boyfriend’s legs and arse as the man walked. It had been too long since he had last seen the man’s body without the barrier of clothing.

 

Severus let out a small snort of amusement, heading into his own room once they reached the top of the stairs. Fabian paused for a moment outside of Lily’s door, setting the package of pictures he had brought with him on the floor before knocking twice. Turning quickly, he hurried down the hall toward Severus’ room wanting to get in before Severus decided to be ‘playful’ and lock him out.

 

Slipping into the room, he found Severus standing there waiting for him. Shutting the door behind him, he took a step forward pressing himself against Severus before stealing another kiss, trying to show Severus without words, how much he had missed him.

 

\---------------x

 

Harry’s eyes darted around the room he and Blaise had just stepped into. It was full of people bustling around, while others sat at tables, eating and drinking. Harry started wandering further into the room intending to explore more, when Remus, who had gone through the floo first, stopped him, pulling him and Blaise off to the side to wait for the others.

 

“Try not to wander off, Harry,” Remus said,

 

“I won’t.” Harry replied distractedly, as he took in everything he could about where they were, and the amount of people that were around.

 

The place sort of reminded him of the cafeteria in the Fae city, only smaller and darker, with mismatched furniture. It was also full of people of all ages, rather than just other kids, and everyone was dressed in the robes that seemed common to most wizards and witches. Harry knew that Remus intended to buy them similar clothing today, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He liked the clothes he had worn for as long as he could remember.

 

“What is this place?” Draco asked, he and Theo having stepped out of the floo and come over to join them.

 

“This is the Leaky Cauldron,” Remus told him, but it was apparent from the looks he was receiving from the four boys that they needed to know more than that. “It’s a pub and the way into Diagon Alley.”

 

“What’s a pub?” Harry asked eagerly, turning to look at Remus.

 

“A place that you boys don’t need to learn about until you are much older,” Sirius stated as he stepped out of the fireplace, before Remus had a chance to comment. The werewolf threw him an unimpressed look. “I’ll tell you about it when you are twenty. No, when you are going grey. Yes, then I’ll explain,” Sirius went on, making Harry giggle. Remus rolled his eyes.

 

“It is a place where people come to drink, and sometimes eat,” Remus told them, his hand on Theo’s back as he got them moving away from the fireplace. “We’re just passing through though,” he told them as they moved into little courtyard out the back.

 

“To where?” Blaise asked, frowning at the brick walls all around them. The only door out of there was the one they had just come through.

 

“Just wait and see,” Sirius said excitedly as he drew his wand. “You’ll like this,” he added with a smirk at the boys. He turned to one of the brick walls, and with a few careful taps, a hole appeared, growing until it had formed an archway.

 

“And that’s where we’re going?” Blaise asked simply.

 

Sirius looked rather crestfallen that they weren’t more awestruck by the revelation of the shopping street, but he supposed that while the boys were new to the wizarding world, they were not new to magic.

 

“There’s so many people,” Harry said.

 

“Yes, there are, so you boys stay close to us,” Sirius said, ruffling Harry’s hair. “If there’s something you want to look at, Remus or I will take you.”

 

“I think first we should take you boys to get measured for some new clothes and robes,” Remus said. “And then you can do some exploring, and shopping for Christmas presents.”

 

“Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like the kind of clothes you plan on buying us,” Draco said, eyeing some of the witches and wizards that were walking around.

 

“I’m sure we’ll find something you’ll like,” Sirius said, putting a hand around Draco’s shoulder as he started leading the boys further into the alley.

 

Harry continued looking every which way, staying with the group, but he darted from one side of Remus to the other, trying to take everything in at once.

 

“What’s a cauldron shop for?” Harry asked, looking up at Remus.

 

“We use the cauldrons to brew potions,” Remus explained, even though it appeared that Harry wasn’t even listening as the teen had already gotten distracted by massive ice cream sundaes that were in the window of Fortescue’s across the road.

 

“What’s that?” Harry asked, already darting across the road toward the ice cream shop.

 

“Harry!” Blaise and Sirius both shouted out at the same time.

 

“Come on,” Harry said, as he turned and gestured for them to follow him. Blaise quickly moved to take Harry’s hand, not wanting his mate to get separated from him by the bustling crowds. Sirius appeared at their side as they reached the window of the ice cream parlor. “You eat it?” Harry asked in awe, as he peered in at the people sitting at the tables inside.

 

“You absolutely do!” Sirius exclaimed. “You’ll love it.”

 

“Robes first,” Remus insisted as he, Draco and Theo reached them. “And Harry, what did I say about wandering off?”

 

“I wasn’t wandering off. I was right here,” Harry said looking confused.

 

Remus shook his head with a small sigh. “Regardless, please don’t do that again. Now let’s go get you boys fitted for your new robes, then we can come back here and get some ice cream.”

 

“Promise?” Sirius asked teasingly, turning to look at his boyfriend with his most imploring expression. “Can I get the one with all the sprinkles on the top and Fizzing Whizzbee’s mixed in?”

 

“Yes, if you really must,” Remus said as he pulled Harry from where he was pressed against the window. “This way; come on,” he insisted, directing the four boys to the shop back across the other side of the street. The heavy sign above it identifying it as Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. “Sirius!” he snapped, when he realised that the other man was still gazing longingly at the ice cream.

 

“I’m here. I’m here,” Sirius said as he dodged various people as he hurried to catch up with them. No sooner had he caught up with them when he paused again. “On second thought, you go on ahead. I have some Christmas shopping of my own to do.”

 

“What are you doing now, Sirius?” Remus asked exasperated, as he turned to look at his boyfriend.

 

“Nothing. Just something I think the boys are going to need,” Sirius grinned looking over his shoulder.

 

Curiously, Theo looked in the same direction and frowned in confusion as he read the name of the shop Sirius was eyeing. “What is...Quidditch?”

 

“You don’t know what Quidditch is?” Sirius asked, looking truly shocked by this information. It apparently hadn’t occurred to him that the most famous sport in the wizarding world was limited to just witches and wizards.

 

“Can you eat it too?” Harry asked, tilting his head in confusion.

 

“No! You don’t eat it. Well, the snitch certainly is small enough to swallow if you’re unlucky, but that’s not the point,” Sirius said. “Remus, I’ll be back,” Sirius proclaimed and turned around to head back across the street once again, only to stop short as something grabbed the back of his shirt.

 

“Sirius, I know exactly what you’re planning, and I’m telling you right now the answer is flat out, no.” Remus said firmly, narrowing his eyes at Sirius.

 

“But Remus!” Sirius began to protest, but Remus shook his head.

 

“I said no. First of all, they could hurt themselves. Secondly, we already know their magic works differently than ours.  There’s no telling if a broom would even work for them,” Remus crossed his arms over his chest.

 

The four boys stood off to the side watching the argument take place. Harry was looking back and forth between the two adults.

 

“Do you feel like we’re missing something here?” Draco asked, standing next to Harry who nodded.

 

“The brooms can wait,” Remus said a note of finality in his voice and Sirius sighed, nodding his head reluctantly.

 

“Now, for the final time, let's go,” Remus said facing the boys again and ushering them forward into the robe shop, Sirius trailing behind them sulkily.

 

\---------------x

 

It had taken about half an hour, but both Draco and Harry had been measured and fitted for several new robes, along with a selection of tops and trousers. Harry hadn’t been entirely sure about some of the items, but Draco had outright sulked his way through the whole event. He just didn’t see why they couldn’t continue to wear the clothes they already had.

 

It was now Blaise and Theo’s turn, and the young blond was watching on as a tape measure wiggled around his mate’s body, taking measurements. Theo was eyeing the tape measure distrustfully, though he and Blaise were managing to stand still, while Harry and Draco had been constantly moving around.

 

“This is stupid,” Draco huffed. “I don’t need any new clothes. My clothes are fine,” the blond insisted, tugging gently on the tunic he was wearing; it was one of his favourites.

 

“Remus thinks we need more clothes though,” Harry pointed out, looking over at the stack of clothes that had been picked out for the pair of them. “And we really didn’t bring much with us…” Harry reminded his friend.

 

“That’s not MY fault,” Draco snapped irritably.

 

“It’s not my fault either!” Harry shot back. “We brought what we needed at the time, and I think Remus is right, we do need more clothes than what we have right now. We can’t wear these forever,” Harry pointed out.

 

“Watch me,” Draco said stubbornly. “They’re wasting their time.  I’m not going to wear any of these things,” he said, looking disdainfully at the robes that were on display.

 

“You’re just being impossible,” Harry stuck his tongue out at Draco.

 

The blond huffed, and dropped himself into a chair. It was starting to feel like he was the only one unhappy with all these changes, and he was worried he might never get used to life in the Wizarding World, with their strange foods and weird, itchy, stifling clothes.

 

“You can’t honestly tell me that you want to wear these clothes,” Draco said, sounding unsure of himself, unsure of what Harry would say.

 

“No, not really,” Harry admitted, taking a seat next to his friend. “But Remus said we need them,” he said again, frowning when Draco let out a loud frustrated sigh.

 

“There’s a lot of things these wizards think we need!” Draco exclaimed in frustration. “Things we’ve gotten along fine without until now!”

 

“They’re just trying to help,” Harry insisted, not really understanding why Draco was fighting against everything. As far as he could tell, Remus and Sirius had done everything they could to make them feel at home.

 

“They’re trying to make us like them!” Draco said, his voice getting louder and gaining the attention of Remus and Sirius.

 

“They’re just buying us clothes,” Harry said, his own voice raising to match Draco’s. He could feel the irritation coming from Draco, and it was only fueling Harry’s own irritation toward the blond.

 

“They’ve also given me potions, had us decorate for their holiday, insist we have our own rooms.  Next thing you know, they’ll be buying us our own sticks and telling us to use them for our magic.” Draco suppressed a shudder at that thought, knowing that if anyone ever tried to make him use one of those stupid sticks for his magic, he’d set it on fire.

 

“Is everything okay?” Sirius asked, coming to stand next to the two teens.

 

“Fine,” Draco snapped, turning away sharply. Harry gave Sirius an apologetic look.

 

“It’s fine. Draco’s just a little moody,” Harry explained.

 

“I am not!” Draco snapped, narrowing his eyes at Harry.

 

“Sirius, why don’t you take Harry and Draco to get some ice cream. We’ll catch up in a few minutes,” Remus suggested, sounding mildly frustrated and stressed.

 

Sirius nodded. “Alright, come on you two. Time for the best treat you’ve ever had,” Sirius said, putting a hand on Harry’s shoulder and the other on Draco’s, guiding the boys out of the shop. Harry went along happily. Draco, however, shrugged Sirius’ hand off his shoulder, though he still followed the man back across the street once again.

 

“It looks a bit crowded in there. Why don’t you two sit out here, and I’ll bring something out for you,” Sirius suggested. Harry looked inside the shop; it didn’t look that crowded, though when he glanced back at Draco, his blond friend still looked very unhappy and was practically glaring at the ice cream shop.

 

“Okay, we’ll wait out here,” Harry agreed, smiling at Sirius when the man ruffled his hair.

 

“I’ll be right back,” Sirius said, watching as Harry pulled Draco over to one of the outdoor seats, before he turned and went inside.

 

“Did you get enough sleep last night, Draco?” Harry asked.

 

Draco looked startled by the question and sighed. “I slept fine. I’m not cranky,” Draco insisted.

 

“Then what’s wrong… it’s not just about the clothes, is it?” Harry frowned, scooting closer to Draco.

 

“It’s partly the clothes, but mostly it’s everything,” Draco told him, running a hand through his hair. “I know we had to leave the Fae city, I know staying there would have been a very bad idea, and I couldn’t have stayed there without you, but don’t you think we’re getting too involved in the wizarding world?”

 

“... I’m not sure what you mean,” Harry tilted his head slightly. “I thought we were having fun here.”

 

“Right now, I think you’re the only one out of all of us who’s actually enjoying himself,” Draco admitted. “I just feel like things are changing too quickly. We’ve only been in this world a few days and everything just feels so…”

 

“Wrong?” Harry supplied, smiling sadly when Draco nodded.

 

“Remus and Sirius’ home feels better, now that we fixed the wards, but everything around them, around us, it makes my stomach turn,” Draco explained.

 

“It’s like feeling sick almost all the time, and if one of them uses magic it makes it even worse,” Harry said.

 

“Yeah,” Draco sighed. “I knew coming here wasn’t going to be easy on us, but I don’t think any of us really knew how bad the wizarding world really was.”

 

Harry nodded in agreement, lowering his head to gaze at the ground for a few moments before he thought of something that might make Draco feel better. Shifting, Harry dug around in his pocket and pulled out the small stone that he had been carrying around with him ever since he had made it. “Here.” Harry held it out for Draco, watching as the blond boy stared at the stone for a second, his eyes lighting up with excitement as he looked from the stone to Harry.

 

“You brought your glow stone with you?” Draco asked, and Harry nodded, slowly feeding his magic into the stone to activate it. Harry could practically see Draco relax as they felt the gentle pulse of pure magic coming from the stone as it glowed softly in Harry’s hand.

 

“Of course I brought it with me,” Harry giggled. “But you can have it for a little while. It might make you feel better,” he said, placing the stone in Draco’s hand, grinning widely when the blond boy suddenly hugged him. Harry wrapped his arms around Draco, returning the hug, extremely happy that he had been able to help his friend.

 

As the two separated from their hug, Harry caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. Turning quickly, Harry scanned the crowd of people until he saw it again. A flash of blond hair, and a movement that had more elegance than any of the witches and wizards around them. “...Kaylin?”

 

“What?” Draco asked, head snapping around to look in the direction Harry was staring in. “I don’t see anything…” Draco trailed off, looking back at Harry quickly when his friend suddenly stood up.

 

“It looked like her,” Harry said.

 

“Are you sure?” Draco asked, also standing and looking nervous as he scanned the crowd, trying to find any sign of the fae Harry had supposedly seen.

 

“No, but we have to find out. If the Fae are here…” Harry shook his head. They would think about that after, if Kaylin really was there. Harry trusted her enough not to take them back to the Fae city, however, if she was here, other Fae could be around as well.

 

“We should wait for Theo and Blaise,” Draco insisted, as worry churned in his gut.

 

“There isn’t time,” Harry said, scanning the crowd again. He saw another flash of blond hair, and without another thought, Harry took off through the crowd of people. He didn’t have to look to know that Draco was following him; he could feel his friend close by.

 

\---------------x

 

Narcissa was frustrated as she made her way up Diagon Alley for the third time, though she hid it behind an emotionless facade. No one would be able to tell by looking at her that she was here shopping for her son. A child she had not seen since he was a year old, and it was that reason alone that had kept her wandering through Diagon Alley searching for the perfect gift that she planned on sending to him. However, nothing seemed appropriate, and Narcissa discovered quite quickly that it wasn’t easy shopping for someone you knew nothing about.

 

She had looked at books, but she didn’t know if he liked to read. She had looked at brooms, but she didn’t know if he knew how to fly. She looked at pendants and cufflinks and bracelets, even robes, but she realised she didn’t even know what Draco looked like, and so had no hope of finding jewelry that would suit.  

 

Narcissa silently cursed her husband’s foolishness. His quick actions, and demands for his son to be brought home had only pushed the boy further away from them. She had even told him as much; his status as a known death eater certainly had not helped things either. However, even though she was less than pleased with Lucius at the moment, she did view the situation as a blessing in disguise.

 

There had been whispers among the death eaters, and through the pure blood families. Voldemort had heard that the children taken by the fae were now returning. Had Lucius succeeded in bringing Draco home, Narcissa was sure that she still would not have her son back. The Dark Lord was too interested in these lost children.

 

So there was part of her, at least, that was relieved that her cousin had taken custody of Draco. She hadn’t seen Sirius since they were children, but she had heard much about the decorated Auror, particularly from Lily, and trusted that her son would at least be safe with him. She didn’t know much about the man that Sirius lived with though, and she was having trouble finding out anything more. It was something she intended to ask Lily about when she visited Severus next.

 

As Narcissa paused to look into another shop window, determined to find something to send to Draco, she saw the reflection of two children in the window. The winter sun was bright, making the reflection faint, and there were lots of people on the street, but these two were just standing there, looking directly at her, she was sure.

 

Taking her time, she took a few steps to the side, under the pretense of looking at something else in the window, and tried to get a better look at the pair. They were still there, and the hint of white blond hair made her heart hammer in her chest; her first thought was that it couldn’t be possible, she had been thinking about her son all morning, and this wouldn’t be the first time she gotten her hopes up just from seeing a flash of blond hair through a crowd.

 

Sighing softly to herself, Narcissa turned around to face the two children, and confirm that her mind was just once again playing tricks on her, caused by her wishful thinking. Her eyes immediately found both children, and now she was the one who was staring. Though it appeared that the two boys had now lost interest in her.

 

“I told you it wasn’t Kaylin,” the blond boy said, hitting the other boy in the arm.

 

“Ow! Don’t hit me. It looked like Kaylin from behind; you thought so too,” the smaller of the two argued back, and all Narcissa could do was stare. Her emotionless mask had fallen, and it was taking all her willpower not to hurry over to them right away. Her logical mind still insisted that she had to confirm what her heart was telling her.

 

“You dragged us all the way through the crowd for nothing. I bet Sirius is going to be really angry with you,” the blond said.

 

“You followed me, so you’re going to be in just as much trouble as I am.” The black-haired boy was turning away, laughing at the expression on his friend’s face.

 

“Shut up,” the blond snapped, turning away from Narcissa, and for a moment she felt as if someone was ripping a hole in her chest. She had known that Draco would not recognise her. There was no possible way for him to know what she looked like, just as she hadn’t known his appearance. But it didn’t make it hurt any less to have her own child look straight through her.

 

“Draco,” she said. Narcissa was given no time to wonder if the boys had heard her; they both spun back around quickly and were once again staring at her. Narcissa wasn’t sure if their eyes were wide with surprise, or fear, or maybe a little of both.

 

“Who are you?” the black haired boy asked, and Narcissa turned her attention on him. Those vivid green eyes and messy black hair; there was no denying who this child belonged to.

 

“Harry,” Narcissa smiled a little, happy that she would be able to go visit Lily now, and tell her unexpected friend that she had seen both their children in person.

 

“Your name’s Harry?” Draco asked, tilting his head in confusion.

 

“No, I’m Narcissa,” she said, composing herself as much as she possibly could at the moment.

 

“Narcissa?” Draco frowned, and glanced at Harry. “...That name sounds familiar,” he said. Harry nodded his head in agreement, though didn’t take his eyes off Narcissa.

 

“Yeah,” Harry said. “That’s the name of your mother.”

 

Draco’s gaze snapped back up toward Narcissa, his eyes slightly wider than before, though this time there was no hint of fear in them, only shock and curiosity. “My mother? Are you…?”

 

“I am,” Narcissa confirmed, taking a hesitant step towards the two of them, and another when they didn’t react. “I have been looking for you for so long. You look so much like your father.”

 

Draco narrowed his eyes, remembering the man he had already met who had claimed to be his father. “That vile man made Harry sick,” Draco said. Narcissa was taken aback by the hostility in Draco’s voice, and she had to wonder what exactly Lucius had done to earn such distrust from their son with just a single meeting.

 

“She doesn’t feel as bad,” Harry said, looking at Draco, and the blond turned his glare toward Harry. “Don’t say anything!” Harry snapped his hands on his hips. “There are HUNDREDS of people around, I can’t shield against everyone. You’re coming in loud and clear, and your mother feels very similar to you, so I can feel her better than others,” Harry said, though he was mostly lying about the last part, because he didn’t want Draco to tell Blaise. His mate would not be happy with him he discovered Harry was lowering his mental shields for near random strangers now.

 

Draco huffed. “You’re sure?” he asked after a moment, reluctantly admitting that Harry’s judgement of people was usually spot on. If Harry wasn’t recoiling from this woman, then it might be worth giving her a chance. Though he wasn’t really sure that he wanted a mother at all.

 

“I’m sure,” Harry assured him quietly. “She is really pleased to see you.”

 

“I am. I am so very pleased to see you, Draco,” Narcissa agreed, glad that Harry seemed to like her for some reason. She didn’t understand it, but wasn’t going to question something working so well in her favour. “I was actually here looking for a Christmas gift for you.”

 

“Why?” Draco asked, looking confused and letting out a small ‘oof’ when Harry elbowed him in the chest.

 

“We’re new to this whole Christmas thing,” Harry explained, smiling brightly up at Narcissa. “I think what Draco MEANT to say was, why would you buy him a gift, if you don’t even know him,” Harry said.

 

“That’s what I said,” Draco huffed, and Harry just shook his head.

 

“I didn’t think I would get a chance to see you,” Narcissa told him, still unable to take her eyes off of her son. “I wanted you to know you were in my thoughts. As for not knowing you, I would appreciate a chance to get to know you.”

 

Draco frowned, seeming to contemplate the idea of getting to know this woman. He supposed there were some things he could learn from her.  Though he wanted to make it quite clear that while he might be willing to know her, he most definitely wanted nothing to do with the man claiming to be his father.

 

“You don’t have to answer right now,” Narcissa reassured him.

 

“Harry! Draco! Where are you?” Both boys and Narcissa looked up at the sound of someone shouting to be heard over the crowd.

 

“We’re going to be in so much trouble,” Draco told Harry under his breath, spotting Sirius a little way down the street.

 

“Harry!” Sirius called out again, as he desperately tried to spot them. “Draco!”

 

“Bye,” Harry said to Narcissa, before tugging on Draco’s sleeve and pulling him towards Sirius.

 

“Goodbye Harry. Goodbye Draco,” Narcissa said sadly, knowing she really had no choice but to let the two boys leave.

 

She was trying to count her blessings that she had had a chance to see and speak to the son she had thought she had lost forever, but her heart was still breaking as she watched him run off, hand-in-hand with Harry. She continued to watch until she saw them safely reach Sirius, who threw himself into telling them both off, and she turned on her heel, deciding to make herself scarce before they could mention her name.

 

\--------------------x

 

Harry felt very tired by the time they got home. Harry and Draco had apologised profusely to Sirius, and convinced the man that they shouldn’t mention what had happened to the others. Harry was pretty certain that Sirius had only agreed because he didn’t want to get in trouble with Remus himself. They had gone back to the ice cream parlor, and Remus, Blaise and Theo had met them there, bags of clothes in hand, a short while later.

 

They had spent most of the rest of the day in Diagon Alley, and it wasn’t until Draco refused to take another step that Remus had finally offered to take them home, as Sirius was still insisting that he had more shopping to do.

 

Harry was now sitting on his bed, surrounded by his new clothes as he picked up each article of clothing and looked it over. There were some simple shirts, and some nicer dress shirts. Harry ran his hand over the material, frowning at the rough feeling of it. These clothes were nothing compared to the ones he had now, and Harry silently agreed with Draco that he really didn’t want to wear them. However, Sirius and Remus had gone through the trouble to get them, so Harry knew he was going to have to wear them regardless.

 

“Better get used to it,” Harry said, sliding his tunic off and setting it aside before looking around at the shirts surrounding him, trying to decide which one he was going to try on first. He managed to narrow his choices down to three shirts, though as he ran his fingers over each one, he felt as if they would feel too itchy once he put them on.

 

“Harry, I was…” Blaise said as he walked into Harry’s room, however, his brain ground to a halt, the rest of his sentence completely eluding him, when he was distracted by the sight of his mate, sitting half naked on the bed.

 

“Were what?” Harry asked, looking up at Blaise. “Are you okay?” he questioned with concern, tilting his head to the side as he tried to figure out what was wrong with his mate. “Blaise?”

 

“Err,” Blaise said, coughing awkwardly. “Yes, I’m good. You inspecting your new clothes?” he asked, keen for anything to take his mind off of Harry’s nakedness, preferably before Harry’s empathy clued him in on exactly how much he was enjoying the sight.

 

“Trying to decide which I like best,” Harry told him. “Come help me choose,” he suggested, clearing a space on the bed next to him. “Please,” he added sweetly, when Blaise didn’t move to join him right away.

 

Blaise took a deep breath, moving further into the room, purposefully leaving the door open. He, however, didn’t sit on the bed, standing just in front of it. “What do you need my help with?” Blaise asked, forcing himself to look at the clothes Harry had around him.

 

Harry let out a loud sigh, darting forward and grabbing Blaise by the wrist, pulling him down onto the bed. “Help me pick something. They all feel really itchy, but I have to wear one of them,” Harry said, his focus on the shirts again.

 

Blaise was silent once again. He was taking in the sight of Harry, his mate, someone who, until today, he had never seen in anything less than a short sleeve shirt and knee high trousers. And even then, that was only for their trip down to the river when they celebrated Ambas-ilarey.

 

“Blaise!” Harry yelled, pushing him out of annoyance. “Stop staring and help me already!”

 

Blaise chuckled. “I can’t help it,” he admitted.

 

“Then kiss me already, so that you can help me choose something to wear!” Harry huffed.

 

“Kissing shouldn’t be something you do to get it over with,” Blaise protested with a laugh, amused that Harry was perfectly aware how of his state of undress was affecting Blaise, and his ability to think properly.

 

“But you want to kiss me,” Harry said, grinning at Blaise. The tan teen raised an eyebrow at his mate.

 

“I’m beginning to think you’re doing this on purpose now,” Blaise said, and wasn’t fooled by the far too innocent look that Harry was now giving him.

 

“What makes you think I’m not?” Harry questioned. Blaise groaned, covering his eyes, and fell backward onto the bed.

 

“And to think most everyone back in the Fae city thought you were too young for such thoughts,” Blaise said, moving his hand to look at Harry again when he heard his mate laugh.

 

“I like kissing,” Harry admitted. “I like the way you feel when we’re kissing.”

 

Blaise felt his face heat up at Harry’s words. There were a few things that Harry could be referring to, however, Blaise knew exactly what Harry meant, and he didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it until now.

 

Blaise was knocked out of his thoughts when Harry suddenly straddled him. “Harry, what are you doing?”

 

“If you won’t kiss me, I’m going to kiss you,” Harry said, leaning down, his hands resting on Blaise’s chest. Harry took a moment to enjoy the surprised look Blaise was giving him, before he leaned down and pressed his lips against his.

 

“Mhmm,” Blaise moaned in approval. He hadn’t expected this, but he certainly wasn’t complaining. On the contrary, he couldn’t think of anywhere he would rather be, than under his mate, being kissed.

 

He reached up, wrapping one arm around Harry’s back to keep him from getting any ideas about moving away. He threaded the fingers of his other hand into Harry’s hair, deepening the kiss. He was vaguely aware of Harry’s roaming hands, which had gone from gripping his shirt, to toying with the ties that held it closed.

 

Blaise trailed his fingers along the bare skin of Harry’s back, feeling his mate shudder above him and arch his back slightly. When he did it again, Harry moaned loudly, his fingers pulling at the ties to his tunic now. Blaise knew he should stop now, he had gotten his kiss, however, when Harry’s smooth slender fingers slid along his now exposed chest, Blaise lost all rational thought.

 

Harry knew he had done something right the moment he felt the surge of emotions right before the whirlwind started, and Harry lost himself again. He gave up trying to figure out which were his feelings and emotions, and which were Blaise’s, and let his shields down completely.

 

Harry wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming feeling, and broke the kiss with a short cry. Burying his head against Blaise’s neck, Harry gasped and panted. “Blaise.”

 

“Harry?” His mate sounded out of breath too. Strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him close before Blaise sat them both up, keeping Harry in his lap. Harry could feel Blaise’s worry; however Harry was still riding the sudden high, and didn’t want to stop. Slipping his arms around Blaise, Harry’s lips brushed against his mate’s neck, pulling a surprised moan from him.

 

“H-Harry, wait,” Blaise stuttered. But Harry could tell that waiting was the last thing that Blaise wanted to do. Shifting his hips forward, Harry pressed himself more firmly against his mate.

 

“Blaise.” Harry pulled away so he could look at Blasie. “Kiss me,” he demanded.

 

Blaise happily obliged. He could try and reason, point out why they should stop, but having Harry close to him again, being able to touch his mate’s bare skin, and the slow rocking of Harry’s hips against his, Blaise decided he didn’t care about reason, all he cared about was Harry.

 

Leaning forward, Blaise kissed Harry firmly, his tongue sliding into Harry’s mouth kissing him deeply and properly, pulling a wonderful mewling sound from him. Harry’s hands were roaming all over again, pulling at the tunic until it slid off, landing among the clothes already covering Harry’s bed.

 

Blaise moved his own hands to Harry’s hips, pulling them more firmly against his own, groaning at the spike of pleasure he felt, a noise that was mirrored by Harry. Any thoughts of stopping were long gone, replaced with thoughts of what to do next, and how many more wonderful noises could he get from Harry.

 

Breaking the kiss, Blaise moved to start kissing and sucking at Harry’s neck, feeling the slim body arch against him. And then, it was gone, and Blaise found himself sitting across the bed from Harry, panting and trying to figure out what had just happened.

 

Harry looked equally confused, staring at Blaise, cheeks flushed, chest rising and falling quickly as he tried to catch his breath.

 

“What do you think you two were doing?” Remus’ voice broke through the fog that seemed to have taken over both boys’ brains.

 

“I think we were kissing,” Harry said, looking up toward Remus.

 

“Last I checked, kissing did not involve removing your clothes,” Remus said.

 

“Then maybe you’re not kissing right,” Harry said with a wide smile.

 

“Clothes, now,” Remus said firmly. “Blaise, go wash up for dinner; Harry, downstairs and help Draco set the table,” the werewolf ordered.

 

Harry pouted, looking over at Blaise who had already grabbed his own tunic and slipped it back on. Harry huffed and looked at Remus. “Kill joy.”

 

“Yes, I have killed a lot of joys in my time, now put your shirt back on, and go help Draco.”

 

Remus stood in the doorway, watching to make sure that Harry did in fact go downstairs, the teen pulling his tunic on as he went. Shaking his head, Remus let out a long sigh; he had been more shocked than anything to walk into Harry’s room and find the boys in that position. Mostly because they all came across as so innocent that it hadn’t even occurred to Remus that the boys might try and have sex.

 

He vaguely wondered if he and Sirius should have to have ‘the talk’ with the boys. Smiling to himself, Remus decided he would let Sirius try and flounder his way through that one.

 

TBC

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this update. See you all in three weeks.


	15. Chapter 14

_ December 25th 1995 _

 

Fabian rolled over in bed and smiled at the sight of Severus. His boyfriend was fast asleep, flat on his back, mouth slightly open and snoring softly. He held back a chuckle when he thought of how some people would react if it ever came out that Severus not only snored, but was quite adorable when he slept too. However, Fabian knew that the man would kill him if he ever told anyone that. Not that Fabian would ever tell a soul.  This Severus was his and his alone. 

 

It warmed his heart that he got to see Severus this way, so open and vulnerable. It said so much about their relationship. Fabian found comfort in such things. He had to when he knew they couldn’t take the usual steps, such as living together, or even just announcing their relationship to the world. But he had decided some years ago he wasn’t going to let it bother him.

 

Making sure that he didn’t disturb Severus, Fabian slid out from under the covers, shivering when his bare feet touched the cold floor. He tiptoed out of the room, shutting the door carefully behind him and headed downstairs in search of a glass of water to help his dry throat. 

 

A grin split his face when he reached the living room, and his eyes landed on the small, decorated tree in the corner, reminding him that it was the very early hours of Christmas day. Fabian was sure that the decoration had been Lily’s doing, and he could imagine the protest that Severus would have put up; his boyfriend was not really one for such frivolity. Fabian’s expression fell to a frown, however, when he spotted the silhouetted shape of a person sitting on the sofa, lit only by the faint lights of the tree.

 

“Lily?” he questioned, his suspicion confirmed when she turned to look at him. “What are you doing down here? You okay?” he asked as he moved closer, increasing the light in the room with a wave of his wand.

 

“I’m fine,” Lily told him with a forced smile. “He looks like James,” she added, her eyes drifting downwards. 

 

Fabian followed her gaze, realisation dawning when he saw what she was holding. The few pictures he had left outside her door the day before, showing Harry helping decorate Sirius and Remus’ house, were clutched tightly in her hands.

 

“He does,” Fabian agreed. “Smaller though, and with your eyes. He gives my nephews a run for their money on the hyperactivity front too.”

 

“It’s surreal, seeing him like this,” Lily said, the longing heavy in her voice, as she ran her fingers over the picture of Harry laughing at something Blaise was saying. “He looks so grown up, and so young all at once.” 

 

Fabian moved to sit next to her, unsure of what he could say at the moment. She had requested pictures of Harry, and Fabian had been more than happy to supply them. It had been a lot of fun capturing pictures of the four boys, and in every single one of them, Harry was either laughing, or grinning mischievously. 

 

“I think I’m having a hard time connecting this boy to the son I remember, my baby… he had been so little,” Lily sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. “Thank you for these,” she said softly, looking at Fabian. 

 

“I… I wish I could do more,” Fabian admitted. “I want to do more. This isn’t fair on you.”

 

“Life is never fair, Fabian. That is something I have had to learn the hard way,” Lily said. “I lost my son, and then only a few months later, I lost my husband, and I myself have done some horrible things…” Lily trailed off, shifting through the pictures once again, her eyes finding Harry in each and every picture, studying his features as he laughed. 

 

Again Fabian found himself unsure of what to say. He couldn’t help but think of his sister and her youngest boy, Ron, and how he was still lost to them. Harry, however, was found, and living in all but arms reach; Fabian had had the joy of spending the afternoon with him the day before last. And yet he was still as lost as ever to Lily, the boy’s mother.

 

“It does seem incredibly unfair that I get to see Harry and you don’t,” Fabian agreed with a wry smile, his heart aching sympathetically. 

 

“That’s not your fault,” Lily assured him sweetly. 

 

“I know,” Fabian told her. 

 

“I know you would change it if you could,” she added.

 

“I would,” he agreed without hesitation. “And you’re allowed to be upset about it; frustrated even, or angry.”

 

“And that would fix things how?” Lily pointed out with a wry smile of her own. “But thank you anyway.”

 

Fabian let out a sigh and clasped her hand in his for a moment before getting back to his feet. He knew that she was right, that dwelling on it wouldn’t change anything. Nothing he could say would help, and so he headed towards the kitchen to get the water he had come down for in the first place. 

 

“Fabian?” Lily’s voice was soft as she called out to him. 

 

He paused just as he reached the door to the kitchen. Turning back around, Fabian saw Lily looking at the pictures in her hand, and not him. He had a fairly good idea what she was going to ask him.

 

“Could you get some more pictures? When you see Harry next?” Lily requested, a hint of desperation in her voice as she lifted her head to look at him. 

 

Fabian felt as if something was squeezing his chest. “Of course,” Fabian agreed easily, giving her a somewhat forced smile before he turned and made his way into the kitchen. 

 

He got his glass of water and took a few sips. His stomach turned unpleasantly. 

 

He knew there had to be something he could do to help Lily. Giving her pictures had seemed like such a good idea at the time. He sort of regretted it now though, hating the fact that it was partly his fault that Lily was currently so sad. She had seemed almost content with the knowledge that Harry was alive and well, but the pictures had clearly changed things.

 

Fabian huffed in annoyance, drinking some more water. His stomach was in knots now though, and he knew from past experience that he wasn’t going to be able to settle down unless he took something to relax himself. 

 

Emptying the rest of his water down the drain, Fabian went to the cupboard where Severus kept a small stock of potions. The shelves were lined with little vials, containing all sorts of different concoctions. Severus would have been able to identify them all on sight, Fabian was sure, but thankfully they were all clearly labelled. He easily located the one he was searching for, and picking up the small vial, he drained it in one go. 

 

Almost instantly, he felt his muscles relaxing and the knots in his stomach vanish, the tension blissfully receding from his body. The vial clinked on the work surface as Fabian leaned forward against the edge of the counter. He let out a long, calming breath, his eyes fixed on the now empty vial that was still clutched between his fingers. 

 

His eyes widened slowly as his brain started clicking into gear.

 

Fabian practically threw the vial into the sink, the tinkling of glass loud in the quiet house. Not caring whether it broke or not, he hurried back to the living room. 

 

“Polyjuice potion!” he blurted out, a little loudly given Severus was still asleep just above them.

 

“What?” Lily asked, looking up at Fabian as the redheaded man hurried over to sit next to her again. 

 

“Polyjuice potion; it’s how I can help you, so that next time I see Harry, it will be you,” Fabian explained. 

 

“You’re not making much sense, Fabian,” Lily said letting out a confused laugh. 

 

“We should switch places,” Fabian told her, but she didn’t seem any less baffled by the suggestion. “I’ll stay here as you, and then you can leave as me. I bet Severus has some Polyjuice stashed around here somewhere,” he added with a wink.

 

“Merlin, Fabian, that’s crazy!” Lily said, running a hand over her hair. Though despite how crazy the idea was, she still hesitated, mulling over the idea. Her desperate desire to actually see Harry with her own eyes was pulling at her heart, but her brain knew it was not so simple. “I so wish we could,” she said earnestly, holding up her hand when Fabian went to speak. “You have no idea how tempting it is, but it would be SO dangerous. If anyone found out…”

 

“Then we don’t let them. We switch places for the day; you keep a supply of potion with you, and I’ll keep my own here. No one will know, not even Severus.” Fabian said dismissively. “You NEED to see your son, Lily.”

 

“Not at the expense of your life, or Severus’,” Lily argued back stubbornly, getting to her feet. “I really appreciate the offer,” she told him with forced calm, “but it is just too big a risk.”

 

Fabian visibly deflated, but he nodded his head in understanding. “Well if you change your mind…” Fabian told her. 

 

“You’ll be the first to know,” Lily said, reaching out and patting his shoulder almost apologetically as she went to move past him. “Thank you again for the pictures,” she said before she turned and left the room. 

 

Fabian sat there in silence for a while longer before he finally decided he was wasting precious moments which he could be spending lying next to Severus. Keeping as quiet as he could, he made his way back upstairs, pausing only briefly outside of Lily’s door when he thought he heard the sound of crying. 

 

Clenching his hands into fists, he silently promised himself that he would find a way to get Lily out of here and back to Harry. He just hoped that Lily would let him help her. For now though, as much as he hated it, he knew there was nothing more he could do. 

 

With a frustrated huff, he continued on his way to Severus’ room. Crawling back into bed with his black haired lover, Fabian wrapped his hands around Severus’ waist and curled up close to the man, taking comfort in his presence. 

 

\---------------x

 

Harry let out a small sigh as he rolled over in bed, curling up close to Draco’s side as he and his friend were sandwiched between Blaise and Theo. However, no matter how hard he tried, Harry just couldn’t seem to settle himself down enough to sleep. Groaning in frustration, he rolled over again. 

 

“Harry,” Draco hissed in annoyance. 

 

“Sorry,” Harry replied, knowing that his rolling about was keeping not just himself awake, but the other three occupants of the bed as well. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Blaise asked, watching as Harry shuffled himself about to sit up in the small space between Blaise and Draco on the bed. 

 

“Nothing. I just can’t sleep,” Harry said. 

 

“Yes, we had gathered that much from the last hour of you rolling around,” Draco said, not even trying to hide his irritation. Harry didn’t blame him though. He knew that Draco was well beyond tired by now, and if there was one thing that everyone knew, it was that Draco was very cranky when he was tired. 

 

“I think I’m just going to get up for a bit,” Harry said, sliding down to the end of the bed before climbing off. 

 

“I’ll come with you,” Blaise said, sitting up as well, but Harry shook his head. 

 

“No, you’re tired. You’re all tired, and I’m not. I don’t want to keep you awake any longer,” Harry said. Blaise frowned at him, and Harry just laughed softly. “Really, Blaise, go to sleep,” he insisted. “I’ll be back up shortly.” 

 

With that, Harry left the room and went downstairs, making sure to move through the hallway as quietly as he could. He’d already kept his mate and two friends awake, he didn’t want to accidently wake up Sirius and Remus now too. 

 

Harry made his way into the sitting room where the Christmas tree was still lit from the night before. Waving his hand toward the fireplace, Harry started a fire before settling down in front of it. His eyes focused on the tree, and the stack of presents that were now piled under it. 

 

He couldn’t help but think at how odd wizards were; bringing trees inside their home and decorating them up; the apparent feast they were going to have that was so complicated that Remus had already started preparing it; the gifts wrapped up in shiny paper so that no one knew what they were. That wasn’t even starting on the strange, fat man Hermione had told him about, who supposed dressed in weird red clothes, and brought presents down the chimney. Glancing at the lit fire, he was glad that Remus had assured him that there would be no one attempting to enter the house via the fireplace; not that it would have been possible anyway, not with the wards they had put up.

 

The whole thing was all very weird to Harry, and exciting at the same time. He couldn’t help but wonder what the kids back in the Fae city would think about such a celebration, one that focused on the people around you. 

 

As grand and glamorous as the Fae city was compared to the wizarding world, Harry was finding he felt more at home here than he ever had in the Fae city. It was a place where thanks was given to the Council, and to the magic that protected them all, but almost all the Fae were so distant from each other; the idea that any of them would set up a tree and place presents under it for one another was almost laughable. 

 

Crawling forward to sit a little nearer to the tree, Harry peered closer at the presents, frowning when he saw his name written on a couple of them. Upon closer inspection he saw presents for Blaise, Draco and Theodore as well. Despite having been included in everything Remus and Sirius had done since their arrival, Harry somehow hadn’t quite expected this level of inclusion in their celebration. 

 

He had felt the affection that Remus and Sirius had for him and the others, but the emotions Harry had picked up on were like little stolen secrets. These gifts, meant for each of them, were a gesture that showed that care, out in the open for them all to see. Harry couldn’t help but smile, knowing that they really did have a home here. Though it soon became a thoughtful frown, when he found himself wishing to do something for Sirius and Remus, to show them his gratitude. 

 

He had liked the idea of buying presents for them too; however, Harry had been at a complete loss when trying to decide what to get them. Even now, he had no idea what Remus or Sirius would even like. 

 

Sitting back with his knees tucked under him, Harry’s gaze lifted up toward the tree again, his eyes shining as the lights twinkled. Smiling Harry focused his magic, and in a moment the tree was lit up a little bit brighter as his glowstone, his own personal decoration that he had hidden within the branches, started glowing faintly. 

 

He had always been fascinated by the magical items that the Fae created by infusing them with their magic, that they could share their magic with others in such a way. It was why he had put so much effort into learning the skill for himself, so that he might be able to help others with his magic. To gift it to them, he realised, a delighted grin splitting his face.

 

All but jumping to his feet in excitement at the idea that had come to him, Harry had to remind himself that others in the house were sleeping, and that if he didn’t want to spoil the surprise, he would have to move quietly. So with great care, he made his way back upstairs and, summoned the ladder down. He paused when it creaked slightly, holding his breath as he listened for the sound of anyone moving, but the house was quiet, and dark, and peaceful.

 

In an instant, Harry’s focus was back on task, and he scurried up the ladder and into the roof space. Absent-mindedly, Harry threw out some of his magic to light the space, his eyes already sweeping around to the trunks that Sirius had shown him earlier. 

 

Crawling the short distance over to where they were stored, Harry ran a hand over one of them reverently; these belonged to the parents he had never known, who he would now never have a chance to know. There was something specific he had come up here for however, and as he lifted the lid he easily spotted it. There was a small box in the back corner, half buried under some papers, but the gems inside had caught Harry’s eye.

 

Lifting it out, Harry sat back on his feet, and inspected the contents closely. At first glance it was mostly ornate bits of metal and metal chains, and he couldn’t see anything that was quite right, but as he dug a little deeper a glimmer of colour made his heart beat a little faster with anticipation. Carefully he extracted it from the other jewelry, revealing a golden bracelet, with five perfectly formed gemstones.

 

Laughing happily to himself, Harry put the small box back, keeping hold of the bracelet he got to his feet again and hurried back downstairs as fast as he dared. He only had a few hours before the sun was up, and he wanted to finish before morning.

 

As he sat down in front of the tree once more, Harry began work on his project, silently hoping to himself that everyone liked the gifts he would give them. 

 

\----------------x

 

Remus stretched a little as he slowly woke, blinking his eyes open. There was just enough light coming around the edges of the curtains to tell him that the sun was rising. Sometimes Remus disliked his internal alarm clock that had him waking up so early every morning. He never got the luxury of sleeping in, unless it was the day after a full moon, but he never counted that as a relaxing lie in. 

 

Today, however, was a little different. Being Christmas morning, it meant that Remus was in no hurry to move out from under the covers or the arm thrown over his waist. 

 

Rolling over, Remus smiled fondly at his boyfriend. Sirius was sprawled on his front, hair sticking up as much as Harry’s usually did, drooling a little, and his mouth open slightly, letting out the occasional snore. It was far from elegant or sexy, but he was still the most handsome man that Remus could imagine. 

 

Remus allowed himself a few more moments of laying there, smiling softly when Sirius let out a particularly loud snore. He chuckled softly, ran a hand over Sirius’s hair brushing it away from his face, and placed a kiss on his forehead. Sirius sniffled slightly, but stayed asleep, and so Remus carefully slid out of his hold and out of the bed. It was going to be a busy day, and the sooner he got up the better. 

 

He slipped out of the room quietly, not that it was needed as Sirius was a heavy sleeper, and it would take more than a door closing to wake him. Remus made his way downstairs, his mind on the first cup of tea that he would make, before he would start on breakfast for Sirius, and the four boys who were still sleeping. 

 

Remus sniffed at the air as he reached the bottom of the stairs. His brow furrowed in confusion as he made his way into the living room and saw that his nose had been right; there were embers burning softly in the fireplace, having almost burnt themselves out. Some time during the night, someone had lit a fire in the grate. 

 

His confusion soon turned to indulgent exasperation when he spotted the small form tucked half-way behind the tree, fingers wrapped loosely around a gem; an emerald, if he wasn’t mistaken. 

 

“Oh, Harry,” Remus said with a sigh, as he crouched down next to where the young boy had fallen asleep. He laughed a little when he saw how similar Harry looked to Sirius at that moment, with the scruffy hair and sleep-slack mouth. “Harry,” he said a little more loudly, reaching out to shake Harry’s shoulder.

 

Harry shrugged the hand off, curling up tighter and clutching the gem he held closer to his chest. “Harry, it’s time to wake up,” Remus said, touching Harry’s shoulder again. 

 

“No,” was Harry’s mumbled reply. 

 

“You at least should move off the floor,” Remus insisted, but it was clear that Harry was still fast asleep. “Okay, kid,” he said, lifting Harry up into his arms. 

 

He had intended to move Harry to the sofa; however, Harry’s arms and legs wrapped around him, his head resting on Remus’ shoulder. He was suddenly not quite sure what to do. He didn’t want to wake Harry, not if he was really this tired, but he couldn’t get Harry to loosen his grip at all.

 

“Erm… okay…” Remus said uncertainly, he moved over to the couch, wondering if he laid Harry back down the boy would let him go. However, as he attempted to do this, Harry let out a small whimper and tightened his hold on Remus. “Really, Harry?” Remus sighed. “It’s a good job you weigh next to nothing. And that I am stronger than a normal human,” he added under his breath. 

 

Straightening up, he continued on his way into the kitchen again; even if it would make things a little difficult, he couldn't bring himself to pry the boy off him. 

 

Remus managed to shift Harry over onto his hip, holding him with the one arm so that he still had one free that he could use to start getting a simple breakfast together. As he put the kettle on to start his tea, and glanced down at the gem still held tightly in Harry’s hand, Remus had to wonder what Harry had been doing sleeping under the tree. 

 

\----------------x

 

It was nearly an hour later when Remus heard someone on the stairs. Turning toward the kitchen door, he let out a small sigh when he saw Theodore wander into the kitchen, Draco trailing along tiredly behind him. 

 

“Merry Christmas, you two,” Remus greeted, chuckling when the two teens looked at him, and then looked at Harry who was still fast asleep. He was still clinging to Remus as the werewolf moved around the kitchen, though Remus had had to sit down a few times, and move him from one hip to the other to keep his arms from giving out completely; small as Harry was, he still got tiring to hold after a while. 

 

“...morning,” Theo greeted back looking a little amused. “May I ask what you are doing? Or rather, what Harry’s doing?” 

 

“I am cutting fruit,” Remus said, turning back toward the counter. “And Harry is still sleeping.” 

 

“But why here, not in bed?” Draco asked, as he took a seat at the kitchen table, leaning his arm on the table and his head on his hand, watching Remus and Harry with confusion. 

 

“I’d like to know the answer to that question as well,” Remus sighed. “I found him down here sleeping under the tree,” he explained, moving over to the cupboard and pulling down four separate bowls and started making a small fruit salad for each of the teens. 

 

Theo moved to sit next to Draco, watching Remus closely as he prepared the food. He couldn’t help but notice how Remus never used his wand while cooking; everything he made was by hand. Theodore would have thought that this was how it was always done, if he hadn’t seen that red-headed woman, Molly, use her wand in the kitchen for nearly everything she did. He prefered Remus’ hands on approach for the most part. 

 

“Harry was having trouble sleeping last night,” Theodore said, remembering when the smaller boy had left the bed, deciding it would be best to go downstairs instead of tossing and turning, keeping everyone awake. Theodore had assumed that Harry had just gone to sleep in his own room after that. Now knowing that Harry had instead curled up on the floor under the Christmas tree, Theo knew that Blaise wasn’t going to be happy about that.

 

Theodore frowned deeply as he thought about that; as Harry’s mate, Blaise should have gotten out of bed with Harry, as he had obviously been worrying about something enough to not sleep. As a result, Harry had been left unattended downstairs, had apparently spent the night on the floor, and had been found by Remus. Theo already knew how much of a failure Blaise would feel. Harry, however, looked perfectly content. Remus on the other hand already looked exhausted, and it wasn’t even nine in the morning.

 

“Let me take him,” Theo said, holding his arms out toward Remus.

 

“He might not let me go,” Remus said, but he walked over to where Theo was sitting regardless. It took a little coaxing, but Harry allowed himself to be transferred from Remus’ arms to Theodore’s lap, curling up to the warm body as Theo wrapped his arms protectively around Harry. 

 

“He must be really tired. He didn’t even wake up,” Draco said, lifting his head to look at his best friend, worry clearly on his face. 

 

“We’ll let him sleep a while longer,” Theo assured his mate. He looked down at Harry’s relaxed face, his friend completely trusting that he was safe. “Also, it might be best if we don’t mention this to Blaise, unless he asks,” Theo said. 

 

“Why?” Remus asked, having been listening in to the boys’ conversation. Draco looked up at him, a little surprised at the question. “Harry didn’t do anything wrong. Blaise has nothing to worry about. None of you do here.”

 

“I don’t think you want to get into this conversation again,” Theo said, lifting his gaze and locking eyes with Remus. “Harry is fine, and I don’t want Blaise to worry. Let’s leave it at that.”

 

“I am not going to lie,” Remus told him sternly. “And I don’t want to hear you boys telling lies either,” he added, wanting to make it clear that he expected honesty from them while they lived there. 

 

“We’re not lying. We’re just not going to tell him unless he asks, and if we don’t tell him, he’ll have no reason to ask,” Draco pointed out, his tone a bit snappish as he leaned back in his seat. “I don’t lie,” he added under his breath. 

 

Remus nodded and let the subject drop, going back to the fruit he was preparing. Draco eyed him for a moment before turning his attention back toward Harry. The kitchen was quiet other than Remus, who finished cutting up the fruit, and the occasional noise from Harry as he shifted in his sleep. 

 

Draco leaned against Theo’s shoulder; taking a deep, slow breath, he closed his eyes. He had had his doubts about staying with Remus and Sirius, but in moments like this, he understood the trust Harry had in them; he felt safe, and comfortable. And so he let himself doze. 

 

\----------------x

 

The quietness of the morning didn’t last. Blaise had finally made his way downstairs to join Theo, Draco and Harry, at the table. Sitting down across from Theodore, he smirked in amusement at the fact that Harry and Draco had made themselves comfortable with Theo. 

 

“You’re popular this morning,” Blaise commented.

 

“Yes, well we always knew I was more popular than you,” Theo teased. “Though I do wish to be a little less popular at the moment, so perhaps you could come take your mate from me now? He’s been clinging all morning.”

 

“You all look so comfortable. I wouldn’t want to ruin it,” Blaise laughed. 

 

“Breakfast is done. Why don’t you wake Harry and Draco up now?” Remus suggested, placing the four bowls of fruit salad on the table. 

 

“With pleasure,” Blaise said, standing so that he could take Harry from Theo, settling his mate in his lap. Blaise smoothed his fingers through Harry’s hair before leaning down and pressing his lips to the sleeping teen’s. 

 

“Blaise,” Theo said, but his warning was a moment too late. The tan teen yelped and turned quickly, one of his hands rubbing the back of his head as he glared at Remus, who was standing there, wooden spoon in hand. 

 

“What was that for? You told me to wake him up,” Blaise huffed. 

 

“If your waking him up is anything resembling how you help him find clothes to wear, then I don’t want to see that at the kitchen table,” Remus said firmly, though with a hint of amusement in his voice. 

 

“What don’t we want to see?” Sirius asked, as he wandered into the room, scrubbing lazily at his messy hair, before smothering a yawn. “Ooh, coffee,” he said, spotting his usual cup on the side, knowing that Remus would have prepared it perfectly and placed a spell to keep it at the right temperature. Sure enough, as he wrapped his hands around the mug, he felt its radiating warmth.

 

“Can I have coffee?” Harry asked sleepily, still leaning against Blaise and only looking half awake. 

 

“I’ll get you some tea,” Remus said firmly, before Sirius could answer. “Theo, Blaise, Draco, tea?” he offered, and all three of them nodded. 

 

He fetched their drinks, and then brought the fruit salad to the table. Sirius looked rather unimpressed by the meal, until Remus fetched a small basket of croissants, a knowing smile on his face. They ate and drank their breakfast together, the boys grateful for the familiar food, and Sirius describing in great detail his favourite foods that they would be having later. By the time they were done eating, Harry and Draco were much more awake, and Sirius was all but buzzing with excitement for the day. 

 

Remus made his way into the living room, leaving it up to Sirius to start herding the four boys so they could start opening presents. “Harry, hold up a second,” Sirius said. 

 

Both Blaise and Harry stopped, turning to look at Sirius who held out his cup of coffee. “You seem really tired this morning. Are you okay?” Sirius asked, having noticed that while Harry still seemed to be his happy self, he was definitely far less energetic than usual. 

 

“I’m fine,” Harry said covering up a yawn. “I’m just tired today,” he explained with a smile. 

 

“Here. Take a couple sips of this,” Sirius said, holding out his mug. “I know Remus gave you tea already, but I think you’ll want something a bit stronger if you want to stay awake long enough to open presents.”

 

Harry took the offered mug, sniffing at it and making a face. “This really works?” He asked, looking to Sirius, then looking over at Blaise who was the only one of them who had tried coffee already. 

 

“It does work. I don’t know if you’re going to like it though,” Blaise said.

 

Nodding, Harry tried not to breathe in as he took a sip of the coffee. The smell was bitter, and the taste was far worse. Sirius’ hand darted out and caught the mug as Harry dropped it, spilling the rest of the liquid on the floor as he wiped at his tongue. 

 

“GROSS!” Harry whined. 

 

Sirius let out a barking laugh as Blaise grabbed some fruit that had been left over on the table and handed it to Harry. Harry gratefully took the pieces of apple and melon, eating them quickly. He all but melted against Blaise with relief as the sweet fruity taste washed away the bitterness from his tongue.

 

“That was not nice,” Harry glared at Sirius. 

 

“You’re awake now though, kiddo, aren’t you?” Sirius chuckled, ruffling Harry’s hair. “Come on, the others are waiting.” 

 

Harry allowed himself to be led through to the living room again. Remus had already taken his own seat, while Theo and Draco were sitting on the couch, leaving enough space for Blaise and Harry to sit, if they felt like squeezing together. Blaise took a seat next to their friends, pulling Harry down onto his lap and wrapping his arms around him. Remus gave them a stern look, and when Harry looked up at Blaise’s face, his mate was smiling innocently. 

 

“Presents!” Sirius declared happily as he dropped himself down next to the Christmas tree, pulling out the closest gift to him, reading the label. “This is for you, Theo,” he said happily, holding it out toward the teen. 

 

“Me?” Theo asked, and Sirius nodded eagerly. “But I… we don’t have anything to give.”

 

“Don’t worry about that,” Remus told him dismissively. “This is your first Christmas with us. We wanted to get you boys something, and we’re not expecting anything in return.” Remus said, making it sound like he was expecting for the boys to be around longer than this one Christmas. 

 

Sirius continued handing the presents out, one to each of the boys. All of them looked a little lost, except for Harry, who had seen the presents in the early hours of the morning, so he understood what they were most likely thinking at the moment. 

 

Sirius and Remus were standing and waiting for the boys to open the gifts they were holding. It wasn’t at all surprising when Harry was the first one to start, finding the seam and carefully opening it. 

 

“You can just rip into it, that’s what presents are for,” Sirius encouraged. 

 

“Let him do it his own way,” Remus said. 

 

Harry peeled the paper away and started cracking open the box that had been inside, letting out a yell as something flew out. Draco, who had been watching curiously, shrieked as the small golden ball flew at him before darting off at the last second. 

 

“What is THAT?” Draco demanded as Harry laughed happily, tossing the box to the floor and ignoring the second present inside in favor of chasing the small golden ball around the room. 

 

“Harry’s already got the right idea!” Sirius exclaimed happily. “It’s a snitch. It is supposed to be caught. Usually during a game of quidditch, but this is a good start.”

 

“Careful, Harry,” Theo cautioned, as his friend came incredibly close to knocking over the whole Christmas tree. 

 

“I can’t believe you got him a snitch,” Remus said. “When did you get him that?”

 

Sirius smirked. “Well, you said no brooms, so I thought this would be the next best thing.” He laughed as Harry jumped around the room, climbing on the furniture to get higher up in an attempt to catch it. 

 

“Harry, sit down. You can catch it later. It’s not going to get very far trapped in the house,” Remus said. 

 

“I almost got it!” Harry said, climbing up onto the back of the couch behind Draco. 

 

“Don’t fall on me!” Draco warned. Sirius laughed and walked over, lifting Harry up and over the back of the couch, setting him down on his own two feet. 

 

“Remus is right. You can catch it later.” He ruffled Harry’s hair. “Now finish opening your present, and maybe you can help them open theirs too, since I don’t think they know how to.” Sirius motioned toward the three still sitting on the couch. 

 

“Sit down and let them figure it out on their own, Sirius,” Remus said with a shake of his head. He was rather amused by Sirius’ fussing over the boys. “Why don’t you lead by example, open your own present,” he suggested.

 

“Oh, I got a present too?” Sirius asked, leaving Harry’s side and going over to Remus, who motioned to the larger box that was under the tree. 

 

“You already know which one it is,” Remus said. “I hope you appreciate how much I went through to make sure you couldn’t guess your present this year.” 

 

“I know, you’re so mean to me. I’ve never come across a box that’s been so warded in my life!” Sirius said, pulling the box out from under the tree, ripping into the paper and tossing it aside. “I swear I still have blisters from the last time I tried to sneak a peek in the box.”

 

Remus said nothing, just smiled sweetly at his boyfriend as the man finally got the box open and let out a whoop of joy. “Quidditch gear!” Sirius announced happily. “These are amazing!” he declared, as he placed the box on the floor, pulled out the first item and started strapping it to his left leg.

 

“You’re welcome, love” Remus said with a laugh, as he watched his boyfriend start working on the other shin pad. 

 

It was clear that Sirius intended to dress himself in the full gear right now. However, what had Remus’ attention was that Draco was hesitantly opening his own present, carefully, the same way Harry had. He didn’t want to make a big thing of it, but Draco’s soft gasp of surprise drew Sirius’ attention.

 

“What is it?” Harry asked, looking over at the present that Draco had just opened. 

 

“It’s a book about healing, spells and stuff that I can work with,” Draco said excitedly as he opened the book and started looking through the pages. 

 

Theo was next to open his present, encouraged now by what Draco had gotten. His eyes widened when he too pulled out a book, though this one seemed to be all about cooking. “Enchantment in Baking?” Theo raised an eyebrow at the name, looking over at Remus. 

 

“I thought you and I could try some of the recipes in there,” Remus said. “We don’t have to, but I thought it might be interesting. I haven’t actually done much baking myself, so I thought we could learn together.”

 

“I’d like that,” Theo said, sounding surprised by the confession. 

 

Blaise was the last to open his present, though from the gifts that the others had gotten, he had already guessed that he too would be getting a book. Though he was also surprised at how much thought had gone into each gift. The book about healing, one about cooking, and as Blaise looked over at Harry to see what book he had gotten along with that small golden ball that was still flying around the room, he could see that it was a Quidditch book. Turning his attention back to his own present, Blaise ripped into the paper and pulled out his book. 

 

“I thought that might fascinate you,” Remus said. “It’s not a complete history; it’s only the first volume, but there are quite a few things in there, theories mostly, about where magic first came from, and how it’s progressed through the years.”

 

“Thank you,” Blaise said, more touched by the gift than he had expected to be. He also found that he was genuinely interested in what it had to say, and was looking forward to reading it. He was also hopeful that it might offer some clues as to why wizarding magic felt so… wrong. 

 

“Come on, Remus,” Sirius said, gesturing to the gift next to Remus’ feet. “You’re up.”

 

“Okay, okay,” Remus said happily, picking up his present from Sirius, pulling it free from the paper, more carefully than Sirius had been but less so than the boys. 

 

He lifted the book and stared at the title of it. Raising an eyebrow, he looked to Sirius who looked like it was taking everything he had to not start laughing. 

 

“Very amusing, though I’m not sure a book on wolf mating habits will be of any help to me,” Remus said. 

 

Setting the book down on the floor, he sat back in his chair watching as Sirius started picking up the discarded wrapping paper and tossing it into the fireplace. The four boys were talking happy, showing each other their books. Remus’ eyes glanced once again toward his own book lying discarded by his feet. He let out a small sigh, shaking his head. 

 

“If we’re all finished here, Theo, did you want to come help get dinner started?” Remus asked, bending down to pick up the book off the floor, setting it on the coffee table before standing. 

 

Harry looked up when Remus spoke, before glancing toward the tree where he had hidden his own presents that he intended to give everyone. Now seemed like a good time to hand them out, however Harry kept picking up on a nervous excited feeling coming from Sirius. He wasn’t sure what Sirius was up to but the feeling gave Harry the impression that perhaps his gifts would be better saved until later.

“Yeah, I’ll help,” Theo answered Remus, standing as well, Draco moving to follow his mate. 

 

“Um, hold up a second,” Sirius said. Remus paused and looked at his boyfriend, raising an eyebrow as the man was looking a little nervous, shifting from one foot to the other. “You know I love you, right, Remus?” Sirius asked. 

 

Remus was a little surprised by the random question. “Of course I know that,” he said, glancing down again at the book that had been his christmas present. “If you’re worried about the book, I’m not mad. I’m sure James would have found it hilarious as well,” Remus said, hoping to reassure his boyfriend. 

 

“Yeah, James did actually. He got me a similar book once when I was trying to figure out how to get you to notice me,” Sirius chuckled. “But, this isn’t about the book, though I am happy to know you don’t hate me for it, otherwise this would be really awkward,” Sirius said. 

 

“Okay…” Remus said, not quite sure what Sirius was up to now. 

 

“I really do love you, Remus,” Sirius said. 

 

“I think we’ve established that,” Remus smiled, finding Sirius’ nervousness amusing to watch, even more so as the man had yet to remove the quidditch gear he’d strapped on.

 

“Just let me finish,” Sirius huffed. “I know that I can be an overgrown child at times, obnoxious, irritating, impossible, and we’ve had our fair share of fights before.” 

 

Remus stood there silently, listening to Sirius, and he couldn’t help but smile at him. Though he still was uncertain where this was headed; at least until Sirius pulled a small box from his pocket, holding it out for Remus. The werewolf, however, could only stare at the box with wide eyes, looking from it up to Sirius and back down again. He felt his heart hammering in his chest, his hands shaking as he slowly lifted his hand to take the box. 

 

“Sirius, what is this?” Remus asked. 

 

“It’s your real Christmas present,” Sirius said, giving Remus a nervous smile and watching as he started slowly opening the box.

 

Remus wasn’t sure what to say. His hands were still shaking, and he was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that this was truly happening. And then Sirius had to go and make everything a hundred times more real for him by dropping down onto one knee. 

 

“Remus John Lupin, I’m beginning to see why stuff like this always ends up being so cliché. My mind has gone completely blank except for… Will you marry me?” 

 

Remus didn’t even have to think about the answer; he knew it as soon as he had opened the box. “Yes, I’ll marry you,” Remus said, smiling when Sirius bounced back to his feet and wrapped his arms around Remus pulling him close for a kiss. 

 

Remus stopped him pressing a finger to Sirius’ lips. “On one condition,” the werewolf added.

 

“Anything,” Sirius swore without hesitation, knowing that his fiancé could ask for whatever he liked in that moment.

 

“You don’t wear the quidditch gear to the wedding,” Remus said, his eyes giving his fiancé a once over. 

 

“What? You don’t think it’s sexy?” Sirius asked with exaggerated outrage. 

 

“Very,” Remus told him, pulling him closer, “but I was thinking we should save that particular kink for a time when the boys aren’t around,” he added in a whisper, enjoying the salacious chuckle that Sirius gave. “But yes, I would love to be your husband,” he said, leaning in to kiss his fiancé properly, smiling against Sirius’ lips when he heard the boys cheering and applauding. 

 

\------------------x

 

Narcissa knew, even as she stepped out of the floo, that she probably shouldn’t be there. It was, after all, rude to be visiting anyone’s home unannounced, even more so considering it was mid-afternoon Christmas day. However, she was desperate to speak with Lily and could wait no longer. 

 

Truthfully, she would have travelled to Severus’ home the evening before if it had been possible, but Lucius had detained her late into the evening. She had made the foolish mistake of telling him everything that had happened in Diagon Alley, wanting to share the short moment she had had with their son. She had thought that Lucius would have been happy to know that despite his current plans to gain custody of their son again, that Draco had at least seemed happy, and healthy. Lucius, however, far from being pleased to know Draco was safe, was furious. 

 

_ ‘You had him! You should have brought him home,’ _ her husband had bellowed. 

 

But Narcissa knew that hadn’t been an option. They would have only lost him again, given that Sirius had legal guardianship for the moment. Which was what had brought her to Lily. 

 

She was rather surprised to have found the front room completely empty, with no one in sight. She knew that Lily would be around somewhere, given she never left, and it seemed unlikely that Severus would have had anywhere else to go on Christmas day.

 

Narcissa was in the process of debating with herself if she should just go up to Lily’s room to see if she was up there, or wait here until Severus came to greet her, as she was sure that her sudden arrival would have set off the wards, when she heard a noise come from the kitchen. Moving toward the door she looked in. There was someone in there, though it wasn’t who she had been expecting to find.

 

“Oh,” she all but squeaked, deliberately looking away from Fabian, who had been dressed in little more than an ill-fitting shirt. 

 

“Oh hi!” Fabian exclaimed, turning from the tea he had been making to look at the blonde woman standing in the doorway to Severus’ kitchen. “Narcissa, sorry, didn’t think we would have company.” Noticing her uncomfortableness, he glanced down at himself, chuckling awkwardly. “So I should probably get dressed,” he commented. 

 

“Probably,” Severus said, his lips twitching with suppressed amusement as he came up from the potions lab he had in the basement. “Is that mine?” he asked, his expression turning to a frown, as he realised exactly what Fabian was wearing. 

 

“Of course,” Fabian admitted, grinning unrepentantly. “Why don’t you finish the tea, dear, and I will go find Lily and some trousers,” he said as he moved across the room to Severus, pressing a kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek before heading out of the room. 

 

Severus scowled after him as he went, knowing that Fabian was trying to get a reaction. His expression darkened further when he turned to Narcissa, and realised she was smiling at him far too knowingly.

 

“Tea?” Severus offered before Narcissa could say anything about what she had just witnessed, gesturing to for her to take a seat. She nodded. “I assume you came to speak with Lily?” he asked, as he busied himself with topping up the kettle, and pulling out two more mugs. 

 

“I did, but that doesn’t mean I can’t spare a moment to discuss other subjects for a moment or two,” Narcissa told him with a small smile, clearly not going to be so easily distracted from what had happened. 

 

“And what subject did you have in mind?” Severus asked evasively. 

 

“How about the rather dashing, and startling under-dressed young man who just headed upstairs,” Narcissa suggested. 

 

Severus turned to glare at Narcissa, who looked entirely too innocent in Severus’ opinion. The woman was a demon when she wanted to be and information was to be handed to her only with extreme care. Or, more likely, under duress.

 

“There is nothing to discuss,” he told her bluntly. He desperately wanted to get off this subject before Lily joined them, and he could hear footsteps on the stairs already. Derailing Narcissa from a train of thought was hard enough, but if Lily was there too, there would be no telling what dangerous waters the conversation might end up in. 

 

“If you insist,” Narcissa said, and despite her words Severus still felt like the sharks were circling around him. And sure enough, Lily sauntered through the door a moment later, looking every bit the shark herself. 

 

“Care to tell me why Fabian was wandering around the house half-naked?” she asked happily. 

 

“That was what we were just discussing,” Narcissa told her friend, gesturing for Lily to take the seat next to her, and she did so happily.

 

“We were discussing nothing. Here’s your tea,” Severus said, putting the cups down on the table. 

 

“You’re not staying?” Lily asked, realising that he had only made two cups. 

 

“And be interrogated? I shall pass,” Severus told them. “I shall be upstairs with Fabian if you require anything.”

 

“Helping him find more clothes or removing the ones he has?” Lily called after him, as Severus swept out of the kitchen. She wasn’t surprised when he didn’t respond, and so she turned her attention back to Narcissa, who was looking highly amused. 

 

“As fun as taunting Severus is,” Lily said, and Narcissa chuckled softly in agreement, “I assume there was another reason for your visit. It is Christmas Day after all; I would have thought you would want to spend it with Lucius.”

 

“Christmas has become nothing more than a bitter reminder of what we should have had,” Narcissa said. “Even more so this year, with Draco being so close, and as of right now I’m not permitted to see him.” 

 

Lily frowned, cupping her tea between her hands, relishing the warmth; She could relate to what what Narcissa described. “Is there nothing you can do?” Lily asked. 

 

“Lucius is trying to get custody of Draco, but I am not sure how well that is going to go,” Narcissa explained, pausing to take a sip of her tea. “They are supposedly being kept in Auror custody until the case is resolved. Draco could be a legal adult before that happens.” 

 

“Yes, Fabian told me about Sirius claiming custody,” Lily said sadly, torn on whether or not it had been the right thing to do. She couldn’t be with her son, but Narcissa, Elladora Zabini, and the mother of the other boy could; it felt very wrong to keep the boys from their mothers, no matter what trouble their fathers were mixed up in. 

 

“And with his custody being Ministry approved, it is going to be harder to overturn it,” Narcissa pointed out. “We have no rights of access to our own children.”

 

“I can see why Sirius wouldn’t let Lucius see the boys, given his dubious affiliations; but he won’t even let you near Draco?” Lily asked angrily. “That just isn’t right. He is your son. You have a right to see him!”

 

“That’s actually what I came to tell you,” Narcissa told her, excitement creeping into her voice, her hand reaching out to grasp Lily’s. “I DID see him.”

 

“What?” Lily gasped. “Where? When?”

 

“Yesterday in Diagon Alley. I was just shopping and they found me.” There was a wistful expression on her face as she spoke. “Harry was there too, your Harry. They both look so grown up.”

 

“Fabian brought me pictures,” Lily said, pulling them out of her pocket and spreading them on the table for Narcissa to see. “I can’t believe how much we have missed. I think part of me still expected him to be a baby when they found him,” she said, running a finger over a picture which showed Harry laughing happily. 

 

“We have missed so much, but they have missed out on things too,” Narcissa told her. “And I don’t just mean having us around. They said they were new to the idea of Christmas. We have no idea how they have been raised. They have spent fifteen years being taught and raised by others.” 

 

“That makes sense though, considering they were raised by the Fae,” Lily said, realising only after she had mentioned it that this might not have been information that Narcissa had previously had. 

 

“How do you know that?” Narcissa asked eagerly. “About the Fae? Are you sure?”

 

“Fabian seemed pretty certain,” Lily told her. “I think he heard it from Sirius. It’s where the boys are saying they have been. It makes sense, I mean look at their clothes. I’ve never seen wizards or muggles that dress quite like that.”

 

Narcissa picked up another of the pictures which showed Harry and Draco with a boy she had to assume was Blaise Zabini, as the tan boy looked similar to his mother in many ways. Shifting her attention from the boy’s features, she focused instead on the clothing that they were wearing. 

 

Harry and Draco seemed to be wearing similar clothes to the ones she remembered them in when she saw them in Diagon Alley. However, at the time she had been more focused on the boys, than the oddity of their clothes. But now that Lily had pointed it out, and Narcissa knew to look, she could see that they were in fact strange. And Lily had of course been right, they were not normal wizard or muggle clothes. While the style wasn’t odd, or out of place, if you looked close enough you could see, even in a photo, that there was something else to the clothing just by the way it moved with the boys. 

 

“I will admit, those are a bit odd, but does that really prove that it was the Fae that took them?” Narcissa asked, not sure how she felt about the idea that her son, her Draco, had been raised by the Fae, creatures of pure magic that every pureblood had been raised to fear. 

 

“All I know is what Fabian has told me, and that information came straight from them,” Lily said, gesturing toward the picture of the boys that Narcissa was still holding. 

 

“Why would they even want our children though?” Narcissa questioned, though she was sure that Lily wouldn’t be able to answer that. 

 

Lily sighed and took a long drink of her tea. It was the same question that had been echoing in her own mind ever since Fabian had first told her that Harry had been found. “Your guess would be as good as mine,” she admitted. “But it doesn’t bode well for the other children being found, certainly not quickly.”

 

“Then I fear we may never be given the chance to know our sons,” Narcissa bemoaned.

 

“No,” Lily said quietly, her thoughts flitting like a snidget in her mind. She had waited fifteen years to find out what happened to her son; Narcissa had too. Lily had resigned herself to the fact that it wasn’t safe to go to Harry now, but the idea that she might never be able to… that was too painful to consider. “We’ll find a way,” Lily promised her friend, grasping Narcissa’s hand in her own. 

 

Narcissa stared at Lily, someone who had become the most unlikeliest of friends over the last fifteen years. Even with all she had been through, losing her son, her husband, being taken by the Dark Lord, and finally trapped here, Lily was still a fierce woman, and Narcissa couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit of hope in what Lily said. Narcissa knew that Lily, the foolish Gryffindor that she is, did not make idle promises. If they couldn’t find a way, then Lily would do everything she could to make a way. 

 

“If I can manage to get a message to Sirius, I can convince him to let you see Draco,” Lily said, not wanting to give away too much of what she was thinking. She knew it would be dangerous and stupid, and not just for her. Lily was thankful that Narcissa didn’t ask any questions. The blond woman simply nodded her head and sipped at her tea. The less she knew the better.

 

\------------------x

 

Sirius leaned back in his chair with a groan, patting at his now very full stomach.

 

“You finally found your limit?” Remus asked with amusement, as he absently played with the ring on his finger; it was going to take him a while to get used to wearing it.

 

“I would love to eat more, but my stomach says no,” Sirius admitted sadly, causing Harry, who was sitting next to him, to giggle. 

 

“There isn’t much left for you to eat anyway,” Blaise pointed out, as he peered into the mostly empty dishes in the middle of the table.  

 

“There is enough left for a decent midnight snack,” Sirius said with a wide grin, looking toward Remus when the werewolf stood up and started clearing off the table. 

 

“There’s hardly enough for even that,” Remus said, as he too looked into the dishes as he picked a few of them up, only to have them taken from him as Sirius stood as well. 

 

“You made dinner; you shouldn’t have to clean the table. Go sit; relax,” Sirius ordered. “Harry, you grab the plates and bring them over to the sink. Draco, you grab the cups and follow Harry,” Sirius said. 

 

Remus slowly sat back down, watching in amusement as Sirius got the boys to help him clean up. While Remus would never think badly about the years he had spent with Sirius, all the Christmas days spent with just the two of them, he couldn’t deny that this was better. It was like they had found a piece of their lives that they hadn’t even known was missing. 

 

“Just pile all the dishes in the sink. I’ll make quick work of them,” Sirius said, and Remus continued watching as Blaise joined Draco and Harry, putting the rest of the empty dishes on top of the other ones that were already filling the sink. Though as Sirius pulled his wand out and cast the spell that started cleaning the dishes, Remus couldn’t help but notice how all three boys visibly flinched away. 

 

“Isn’t there another way to do those?” Draco complained. 

 

“This is the fastest way,” Sirius shrugged. “I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not spend the next hour washing all these by hand. I’m too lazy for that.” 

 

“I noticed,” Draco grumbled. Turning, he took Harry’s hand and and pulled him away from the sink where Sirius was working. 

 

Blaise remained, watching how Sirius used his wand, and felt how the magic moved around the area he was working in. His specialty back in the Fae city had been magical theory, and if he could figure out how the wizards were using magic, he could start correcting them. 

 

“Come on,” Harry said, tugging on Draco’s hand which was still in his. The blond was frowning at the magic Sirius was casting with a look of stern disapproval, and Harry didn’t want Draco’s bad mood spoiling what was clearly an important day to Sirius and Remus. “I’ve got something to show you,” he told his friend with a grin.

 

Draco let Harry lead him out of the kitchen and back into the living room. They were both glad to get away from the magic being cast. Harry almost sighed in relief as the discomforting pressure in his mind eased off and the world began to feel right again.

 

“What do you want to show me?” Draco asked, once they were in the living room again, and Harry let go of his hand. Theo, having followed them, watched them quietly from the doorway.

 

“Wait, I have to get them,” Harry said, sounding excited as he knelt down by the tree. Reaching into the branches, he started pulling out some of the glowing lights, before looking around on the floor, a small frown forming on his face. “One’s missing…” he said, sounding devastated. 

 

“One what?” Theo asked, moving further into the room as Harry turned to look up at him. 

 

“One of these,” Harry answered, his hand splayed out, four coloured gems in his palm. “There should be an emerald too!” Theo came to get a closer look. Harry, however, was already turning back to the tree; he started pulling up the tree skirt and searching all around the tree looking for the missing gem. 

 

“Harry, hold up. Calm down,” Draco said, moving forward, seeing how upset his friend was getting. “What are these for? Why are they so important?” 

 

“They’re your Christmas presents,” Harry said, looking at Draco, then over to Theo. “I’m missing Blaise’s. I had it last night. I fell asleep, and it should have been right here, but it’s not!” 

 

“Then it’ll be here somewhere,” Theo said calmly, trying to reason with him. He hadn’t seen Harry in this kind of state in quite some time. It was obvious that this was very important to Harry, but it wasn’t something they would be able to resolve with Harry this panicked. “Harry, calm down a minute,” he pleaded.

 

Harry, however, wasn’t listening. “No, no, no, I have to find it,” he insisted through his tears, literally crawling right under the back of the tree and coming out around the other side. “It’s got to be here, it’s got to be.”

 

“Hey, hey, what’s going on?” Sirius asked loudly as he, Remus and Blaise came into the room and saw Harry scrabbling around under the tree, face tear streaked, cheeks flushed. Blaise didn’t waste a second, rushing to his mate’s side, Remus not far behind him.

 

“He lost something. He said it was supposed to be our Christmas presents,” Draco said, looking a little scared about how upset Harry was about this. 

 

“Oh, Harry,” Remus said with a sad chuckle, reaching into his pocket, as Blaise brushed Harry’s tears away. “Is this what you were looking for?” he asked, holding up the emerald that Harry had been clutching earlier. 

 

“Yes!” Harry exclaimed excitedly, grabbing the gem from between Remus’ fingers and throwing his arms around Remus’ neck. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he babbled.

 

“You were holding it in your sleep earlier,” Remus told him, as he returned Harry’s embrace. “I just didn’t want you to lose it. I had forgotten I had it.”

 

“I thought it was gone,” Harry told him, as he pulled back and leaned into Blaise’s side. “It’s for you,” he added, smiling up at his mate and holding out the gem. As Blaise reached for it, Harry pushed his magic into it gently, causing it to glow softly. 

 

Blaise gasped. “This is a glowstone? You made this?” he asked. Harry nodded, wiping away the remaining tears as he smiled. 

 

“I made one for everyone,” Harry said, taking the other gems and starting to hand them out to the others with a happy, “Merry Christmas.” Blaise, Draco and Theo all looked stunned as they stared at the gems that Harry had given them, while Remus and Sirius looked midley confused.

 

“These are really nice Harry, but uh, what are they for?” Sirius asked, feeling like there was more to the small purple stone that Harry had given him. 

 

“They’re glowstones,” Harry explained, his smile fading a little. “You… don’t know how to work a glowstone, do you?” He had been so excited to be part of Christmas, to be able to give something back to Remus and Sirius that the thought that Remus and Sirius wouldn’t even know what they were hadn’t occurred to Harry.

 

“We can show them how to use them,” Blaise said, not wanting this small fact to upset his mate. Harry nodded. Moving back over to Sirius, he reached out and put a single finger on the stone that Sirius was holding, feeding his magic back into it slowly causing it to glow again. 

 

Sirius stared down at the glowing amethyst in awe; not because it was glowing, there were simple spells that could do similar things, but because of the warm pulsing feeling he could feel coming from the gem sitting in the palm of his hand. 

 

“I made each stone by putting my magic into it. To make them glow, all you have to do is focus on it and it will start glowing,” Harry explained. 

 

“In short, Harry gave us all a piece of his magic,” Theodore explained when Remus and Sirius still didn’t seem to grasp what this truly meant; to him it was an outward sign of how much Harry cared about them, and how much he trusted each of them. Theo looked at Harry and smiled. “Thank you Harry, I will keep it safe,” Theo said, his amber gem clutched firmly in his hand. Draco nodded his agreement, looking at his garnet in awe.

 

Harry smiled brightly at them, looking back at Blaise who was studying his emerald gem intently as it glowed brightly. “Do you like it?” Harry questioned. Blaise smiled at him. Standing up, he moved to stand in front of Harry. 

 

“I love it. I wish I had something to give you in return,” Blaise said. 

 

“You do,” Harry smiled, leaning up and pressing his lips against Blaise’s. 

 

Harry tried to keep his mind on the fact that they were standing in a room full of people, tried to keep his empathy closed off to Blaise. However, as strong arms wrapped around his waist, Harry knew he was fighting a losing battle, and when Blaise’s tongue slid into his mouth, deepening the kiss further, Harry gave up fighting, pressing up against Blaise as he wrapped his arms around his mate’s neck, his own tongue rolling and sliding along Blaise’s. 

 

Blaise tried to pull away, could practically feel the others watching him and Harry; however, as he tried to pull away, Harry’s arms tightened around his neck, the small body pressing closer to him and that was when Blaise felt it. Harry was being affected by the kiss as much as he was, the growing hardness pressing against him was enough evidence of that. 

 

“Okay! That’s it! Break it up!” Sirius voice broke through the rapidly building fog that was taking over Blaise’s brain. 

 

It took great effort, but Blaise managed to pull back from the kiss, his hands on Harry’s shoulders to stop his mate from being able to carry on. Harry blinked, shaking his head as though clearing a fog much like Blaise had to. Blaise smiled at him, and Harry grinned back.

 

“Okay, opposite sides of the room and cool off,” Sirius stated putting an arm between the two of them and gesturing towards well separated seats. 

 

Theo chuckled, looking mildly amused as Blaise and Harry reluctantly separated and went to sit down in the seats that Sirius had indicated. Theo moved to sit next to Blaise, while Draco, looking shocked by Harry’s behavior, sat next to Harry. 

 

Sirius stood there a moment longer, hands on his hips as he looked from Harry to Blaise. Seeming satisfied that they were going to stay in their seats, he looked to Remus. 

 

“Don’t look at me. Harry is your godson.  You can talk to him about this,” Remus said.

 

“How in Merlin’s name am I supposed to talk about this?” Sirius hissed. “They were just making out, in the middle of the living room…”

 

“We can hear you,” Blaise said, smirking when Sirius whipped back around to look at him. “I was just saying, we can hear you, and I don’t think there is much that you could talk to us about that we don’t already know, well, that I know anyway...not sure how much Harry knows,” Blaise said looking over at his mate. 

 

“Fine, then I’ll just say this, no kissing. Kissing leads to sex, and no sex in my house, especially not with my godson,” Sirius said firmly. 

 

“So you’d be perfectly fine if I wanted to have sex with Theo?” Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow, laughing when Theo elbowed him hard in the chest. 

 

“Like I’d ever have sex with you.” Theo rolled his eyes. 

 

“No one is having sex with Theo, except me!” Draco said, causing Harry to break out in a fit of giggles. 

 

“Draco, you don’t even kiss Theo,” Harry pointed out, laughing harder when Draco’s cheeks flushed bright red. 

 

“I do too! I just don’t do it where everyone can see!” Draco huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. 

 

Sirius looked between the boys, clearly out of his element as he turned a pleading look to a quietly snickering Remus. “Please, continue. I think you’re doing a great job,” Remus said. 

 

“You are no help,” Sirius growled before turning back to the four boys. “No kissing, at all, new house rule,” he said. 

 

“But Remus wants to kiss you,” Harry pointed out. “Almost all the time. I think he likes your kisses.” Harry said, blinking when he saw both Sirius and Remus’ faces turn slightly red. 

 

Remus cleared his throat. “I think what Sirius is trying to say, we don’t want to separate you boys, so small kisses are fine, but anything more than that should be kept to your own room, when you are OLDER,” Remus said, wanting to stress the point that the boys really were much too young to be engaging in anything other than a few kisses. 

 

“How much older?” Draco asked with a small frown. 

 

“Much,” Sirius said. “Like, twenty five.” 

 

“I don’t know if I can manage that…” Harry admitted softly, glancing toward Blaise, locking eyes with his mate for a moment. 

 

“You boys are only fifteen,” Remus said. “You’ve just returned to the wizarding world, so give it some time. Get used to how things are here; you never know how you’re going to change as you get older. You may know exactly what you want at the moment, but you might not want the same thing in a year, or even a month, so just give yourself time to settle here. Sirius and I just don’t want any of you to get hurt.” 

 

While he found it amusing that Sirius was trying to put a ban on all sex concerning the boys, he also knew that wasn’t very realistic. However, Remus was sure that he could hold the boys off from going too far for at least a year. It was kind of tense as he looked between each of the boys. Theo and Draco nodded only a little hesitantly, and when he turned to Blaise, the teeanger glared a little before nodding his agreement as well; though he did look rather more resentful about it. 

 

“Harry?” Sirius asked expectantly, seeing that his godson was the one hold out. 

 

“I get carried away,” Harry admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. “But I’ll try,” he agreed sincerely, seeing how much it meant to Sirius and Remus; he didn’t think he would be able to stop himself, nor would he want to, but he would try for their sake. 

 

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So getting through Christmas took a while but we did it! The plot is really starting to move forward now and we have a good map set up for the next few chapters so they should be fairly easy to write, provided time allows for this.   
> On that same note, Celtic has been working crazy hours and has had very little time off of work. Due to this we are going to have to push our next update off by one week, so we are looking at an update the weekend of March 17-19.


	16. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to Emily for getting this chapter beta read so quickly!

**Chapter 15**

 

_ January 2nd 1996 _

 

Itham walked briskly down the hallway, heading toward the exit of the Council Halls, scowl firmly in place; this made sure that anyone who might try and stop him to talk would think twice. It had been just one day shy of two weeks since Harry, Blaise, Draco and Theo had escaped the Fae city. Ever since then, the remaining kids had been put on lockdown, while a select few well-trusted Fae searched the World of Wizards for the missing boys. 

 

Itham was pleased that there had been no trace of the boys since their escape. Wherever they were hiding, Itham hoped that they remained there. Because as of right now, if they were ever brought back to the Fae city, they would be prisoners, just like the others that had tried to leave. 

 

“Itham!”

 

He kept walking, despite hearing his name called, but slowed his pace enough that Alais was able to catch up to him as they made their way down the steps of the Council Halls and out onto the main street. 

 

“I assume you are heading to check on the other children?” she asked, as she matched his pace. 

 

“Given the additional restrictions placed on the main house, I cannot help but worry how they are treating those who have already tried to escape once,” Itham told her. 

 

“They’re not letting me in to see the kids in the main house anymore either,” Alais said. Itham glanced in her direction and gave a small nod. 

 

“Arnaldo and Tinasia are both very suspicious at the moment. No one on the Lower Council is allowed to be near the children until they are of age,” Itham informed her. “If I’m caught saying anything more about the matter to you, things could get a lot worse.”

 

Alais nodded her understanding and didn’t push for more answers. Things were changing very quickly in the city, and they all had to tread very carefully if there was any hope of getting any more children out. The two of them walked in silence as they left the Council Hall and walked through the streets. 

 

“You should return to your own duties,” Itham said. “I will see you later tonight, and I will tell you what I can.” 

 

Alais let out a small sigh and nodded again. “I don’t want you to get in trouble, as much as I would like information about what is going on. I can wait, as long as I know for certain that the kids are still being treated properly.” 

 

Itham gave her a small smile, pausing so he could turn to look fully at her for a moment. He took her hand, leaning down and pressing his lips against her knuckles. “I promise, while they may be a little unhappy at the moment, they are still being well taken care of. Now, I will see you tonight,” he said again. 

 

Alais returned the smile, and Itham left her standing there as he continued on his way to the secondary home. By the time he reached his destination, the smile had faded from his face again, replaced once again with a scowl once he saw the four guards standing outside the doors to the secondary home. 

 

All four fae standing in front of the door straightened up as Itham approached. 

 

“Move, if you know what’s good for you,” Itham hissed, allowing himself a small smirk as the guards quickly did as they were told and let him pass. He still thought that four guards were a bit excessive for six children, though it was a little understandable considering these kids were still seen as a flight risk. Except for maybe Lee; the poor boy was more of a suicide risk at the moment. 

 

Thinking of the depressed boy, Itham made a mental note to sit and talk with him again. He wasn’t sure how much he had helped Lee the last time they had spoken, but it was all he could do for the boy at the moment; it was all any of them could do, because nothing would bring back his mate, Adrian.

 

He all but jogged up the main staircase, looking around for any of children, but the place was quiet, and so he assumed they would be in the common room they shared. He had made a point to visit as frequently as possible over the last couple of weeks, as much as he could without the other High Council Elders asking unwanted questions. For the moment this keeping-an-eye-on-them excuse was flying, but he didn’t want to push his luck. 

 

Making it to the common room, Itham frowned when he saw Angelina standing outside the door looking in. She glanced over her shoulder, obviously having heard him coming. She darted into the room and Itham raised a curious eyebrow, following her into the common room a moment later. 

 

Looking around the room he saw all six children in there, including Lee, who was keeping to himself in a corner. However, the others were scattered around the room, each engaged in their own activity and looking far too innocent considering they had had a lookout. 

 

“Who wants to volunteer to speak first?” Itham asked, looking at each in turn, and he wasn’t entirely surprised when almost everyone in the room looked at Cedric. 

 

“We were wondering how long we were going to be kept here,” Cedric said. “When are you going to return us to our families?”

 

Itham raised an eyebrow at him, glancing toward Pansy and Neville. He knew without asking that those two had been the ones to tell the others about their families, and while Itham was happy that these children knew the truth, having the information was going to make things harder on them. 

 

“You won’t be going back,” Itham said, returning his attention toward Cedric. 

 

“You can’t keep us here,” Cedric said defiantly. 

 

“We can, and we will. You don’t seem to understand the predicament that you all are in. You tried to leave the city, when you knew the rules were to stay inside the walls. Letting you go now could bring a war down on us, one that the High Council does not have time for,” Itham told them bluntly. 

 

“And whose fault is that?” Pansy questioned sardonically. “You’re the ones that took us from our homes, our families, locked us up here-”

 

“Raised and cared for you to the best of our ability,” Itham interrupted. “While I truly wish that things had gone differently, there is far more happening than you know. The world you came from is on the brink of destruction, and you were the tools to stop that from happening,” Itham said. 

 

It was probably more information than they needed to know, seeing as how the High Council had decided already that these misfits were to remain here indefinitely, locked within these walls. He knew they needed to stay put, at least until Itham could think of a way to free them, but that was information he had to keep to himself for now. 

 

“So why not just let us go?” Neville asked. “We’ve ruined your plans. Harry has ruined your plans. He got away; so did Draco, Theo and Blaise.”

 

“If the High Council has their way, they won’t be gone for long,” Itham said. “They will be brought back here, and put under a more secure watch than you six are. So for their sake, you should hope they don’t come back.”

 

“We’re going to find a way to escape,” Cedric snapped. Itham closed his eyes and let out a long sigh; he didn’t even look at Cedric as he spoke. 

 

“You might want to watch your tongue. If anyone other than myself heard you say that, you would have been executed on the spot,” Itham said, opening his eyes and looking at Cedric now. “So, for your sake, and the sake of your mate… Or mates,” he added, looking between Cho and Angelina curiously, “be careful with what you say.” 

 

“He’s right, Cedric,” Cho told him, clasping her hand in his own. “Right here, right now, we are safe. Don’t make me have to live without you.” With her words she chanced a furtive glance toward Lee. 

 

“We won’t stay here quietly forever,” Cedric said, turning his attention to Itham once more.

 

Itham sighed and nodded. “I know. Just be… cautious,” he warned before turning his attention to the corner where Lee had ensconced himself. “Lee,” he called out, and the teenager looked up at him with an almost alarmed expression. “Don’t look so nervous,” Itham said, forcing a smile. “Why don’t you come with me. We’ll find something to drink and have a talk.”

 

Lee glanced somewhat nervously at the other teens in the room before standing to follow Itham. He knew why the others didn’t want to stay here, he had been all for leaving this place before; however, attempting to leave had cost him his mate, and the only one who seemed to understand that was Itham. So while he didn’t want to stay here, he was always a little grateful when Itham visited and chose to talk with him. 

 

\---------------x

 

Frank felt more frustrated and angry than he had in a long time. Over the last couple weeks he had been working late nights, and early mornings, trying to find any trail, any hint, of where the Fae city might be. The boys were as tight lipped as they had been the day they arrived, giving just enough information to get people hopeful, but not nearly enough for the Aurors and other Ministry members to work with. 

 

“Hey Frank,” Sirius said as he walked into the office. Frank glared up at him. 

 

“Unless you’ve come to tell me those boys have decided to talk, I don’t want to hear it,” Frank snapped, and Sirius blinked. 

 

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Sirius said. “Or… did you decide to stay here all night again?” 

 

“As much as I would like to stay here and work endless hours to bring the other children home, Alice has been having a hard time recently,” Frank said. 

 

Sirius’ face fell, and he moved forward to place a hand on Frank’s shoulder. “When we find those Fae bastards, the first thing we’ll do is make sure they fix your wife. What they did was so beyond fucked up.” 

 

Frank nodded, running a hand through his hair. “Yes, but first we have to find them,” he pointed out, his tone clipped. He let out a long sigh, before forcing himself to meet Sirius’ eye. “But seriously, have the boys said ANYTHING that would help?” 

 

“Just more of the usual; they want to help, but they don’t know how to get back to the Fae city,” Sirius said regretfully. “We’ve talked to them in length about this too, explained the urgency. I really don’t know how much help they’re going to be,” Sirius admitted. 

 

“That’s... not good,” Frank said. “You’re sure they can’t give us anything? You know you won’t be able to keep them if we don’t produce something soon. Then Malfoy will be able to take his kid back, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” 

 

Sirius actually laughed at that. “I’d like to see him try. I won’t even have to try and stop him. Harry would be able to do that easily enough on his own. I’m not worried about those boys being separated.” 

 

“This isn’t a laughing matter, Black,” Frank snapped. “Malfoy is very serious about this; he’s already been to speak with the Minister about it personally.” 

 

Sirius’ only reply was a shrug of his shoulders. 

 

“Damn it! Can’t you take this a bit more seriously?” Frank slammed his hand down on the desk. “If we don’t find any leads on the other missing kids, other than these files that we confiscated from the four that showed up in the Ministry, Lucius Malfoy is going to get his son back. The boys WILL be separated, and there will be nothing we can do about it!”

 

“And I’m telling you, that’s not going to happen! You haven’t seen how close those boys truly are, and their magic…” Sirius trailed off with a shake of their head. “Their magic is DIFFERENT from ours. It's stronger. I’ve seen them do things that shouldn’t even be possible.” Sirius said, his hand drifting toward the pocket, where he was keeping the glowstone that Harry had given him. 

 

“Then maybe that magic is the key to getting back to the Fae,” Frank pointed out irritably. “Whatever those boys can and can’t do, and whether or not they could be separated, WE only have limited time, Sirius.” 

 

“You think the Ministry will close the case?” Sirius asked in surprise, dropping himself into a chair across from the other Auror. 

 

Frank sighed tiredly, resting his head in his hands. “I have no idea, but with Malfoy poking around in this, and the Notts all but denying that Theodore is their lost eldest child, I could see Scrimgeour trying to brush this under the rug.” 

 

“Then we’ll keep working on it ourselves,” Sirius assured him stubbornly. “In our own time.”

 

“Of course, but given how little progress we have made with Ministry resources at hand, how much do you think a couple of civilians will be able to manage,” Frank pointed out. “All I’m saying is that we need more, and that those boys are all we have to work with.”

 

“Remus and I are trying,” Sirius assured him. “We are only beginning to scratch the surface. It is going to take time, Frank.”

 

“Time isn’t something we have. As far as everyone else is concerned, we’ve had fifteen years, longer even, to produce results; it’s a miracle that the case hasn’t been closed yet,” Frank said. “Just, do what you can. Maybe see about bringing the boys back in here, one by one. We can question them again, maybe use veritaserum on them.” 

 

Sirius clenched his hands into fists. The thought of making the boys tell them the truth was sickening, but he said nothing against it because he knew it was coming to that. They were going to have to resort to using everything they had to get information, even if he believed that the boys were in fact telling the truth already, and telling them as much as they could. 

 

“I should get to work. I’m sure I have a stack of papers waiting for me on my desk,” Sirius said. 

 

“Yeah, I’m sure your work has piled up since you haven't been here in over a week,” Frank said. “And the full moon is coming up too. Best to get as much work done now before you need a couple more days off.”

 

Sirius nodded. “Yeah, this full moon kinda snuck up on us. Remus and I have no idea what we’re going to do about the boys. We haven’t even talked about that yet…” Sirius admitted. 

 

“Do they know?” Frank questioned. 

 

“Yeah, they kinda figured it out on their own, but my focus needs to be on Remus that night. I can’t keep an eye on them and Remus at the same time…”

 

“You know, if you need me and Alice to take them for the night, we can,” Frank offered. Even though Remus was taking the wolfsbane potion, there was still no telling how he would act with a bunch of kids around; it was dangerous enough having Sirius there. 

 

“We might take you up on that. I’m sure it will make Remus less stressed overall.”

 

\---------------x

 

The new year had come around quickly, and with it, Sirius’ official return to work. Sirius had been in regular contact with Frank, Moody, and Dawlish regarding the case, but Remus and the boys had had him mostly to themselves for during the holidays. Now, however, Remus found himself at home with four teenage boys to keep occupied. 

 

Remus put the last of the dishes from breakfast away into their cupboards, and headed into the living room. Harry and Draco were sitting close together at one end of the sofa, heads bent over Draco’s medical book, discussing it quietly. Theo was at the other sofa, listening intently as he absent-mindedly toyed with his amber glowstone. Blaise, however, was slouched in an armchair, eyes closed and head lolling to the side, fast asleep and snoring softly.

 

Moving into the room, Remus smiled fondly at the four boys. He took a seat in the other free armchair. 

 

“Did Blaise not sleep well?” he asked curiously. 

 

“Harry was being a fidget,” Theo told him absently, his attention still on Harry and Draco. Remus chuckled softly when Harry turned and stuck his tongue out at Theo, before going back to Draco’s book.

 

Remus held his tongue, keeping himself from suggesting separate beds as a solution. They were all still learning to live with each other, but to keep the boys happy, he was willing to compromise on many things, such as the fact that they all still insisted on sharing the one bed every night. Even if they went to sleep in their own beds, by morning they had all wandered into the same room. He didn’t understand why exactly, but it was apparent that he still had a lot to learn about the boys and how they were used to doing things.

 

“Do we have anything planned for today?” Theo asked after a few minutes, turning his attention to Remus. 

 

“Nothing for today,” Remus told him, rubbing at his forehead, hoping to ease the dull throbbing there. He had taken this fourth dose of the potion, and as always it left him feeling a little out of sorts; a feeling he had grown quite used to.

 

“Something’s bothering you,” Harry said quietly, and when Remus looked up, the teenager was fixing him with a curious look. Draco and Theo were also watching him, apparently concerned.

 

“Just a headache,” Remus explained, forcing a smile. The last thing he needed was for the boys to be worried about him. Apparently they were going to anyway though, as Draco handed the book to Harry, got to his feet and moved over to Remus’ side.

 

“Is it the full moon?” Draco asked, as he looked Remus in the eye, as though trying to see what was bothering him, before waving his hand in a vague gesture that was accompanied by tingling sensation. “It’s only a few days away now, but I wouldn’t have expected you to feel its effects just yet.”  

 

Remus blinked up at Draco, leaning away from him slightly. He didn’t mind the teeanger using magic on him, but it had certainly caught him off guard. But Draco continued to look at him expectantly. “Erm, no, just a headache,” Remus insisted half-heartedly.

 

Draco looked far from convinced, but simply raised his hand and pressed two fingers to Remus’ temple. The werewolf went to flinch away, but Draco’s glare had him holding still. Draco closed his eyes, an intense expression on his face, and a moment later the ache in Remus’ skull began to ease.

 

Draco opened his eyes again, looking at Remus for a moment as if trying to determine if the headache was gone. Nodding to himself satisfied, he moved back to his seat next to Harry. 

 

“Do you feel better now?” Harry asked, looking at Remus. 

 

“Yes… I’m not even sure what you did, Draco, but thank you.” Remus smiled. 

 

“It was simple healing magic. Headaches are easier than most things,” Draco smiled, glancing at Harry when his friend shifted forward off the couch and moved to stand in front of Remus. 

 

“Something still doesn’t feel right,” Harry said. “And you don’t want to tell us what it is,” he added pensively, his brow furrowed as he watched Remus closely. 

 

“It’s nothing that you boys need worry about,” Remus hurried to assure them, getting to his feet, so that he wasn’t feeling quite so surrounded.

 

“Is it something to do with the full moon? Like Draco said earlier?” Harry asked. 

 

“Harry,” Theo said, gaining the younger boy's attention. “If he doesn’t want to tell us, just leave it alone.” Draco hummed his agreement, as he moved to sit back of the sofa with Theo, cuddling into his mate’s side.

 

“But…” Harry looked from Theo back up to Remus. “You’re SURE nothing’s wrong?” Harry asked, even though the uncomfortable feeling he was picking up from Remus was just so wrong, like something was squeezing his insides and keeping them in a tight container so they couldn’t break free. 

 

“I’m sure, Harry. I appreciate your concern, but I promise I am fine; a little stressed about the full moon perhaps, but that is fairly normal for me, and it is nothing you boys should be worrying about,” Remus said, placing a comforting hand on Harry’s shoulder. Harry didn’t look convinced, but nodded his head slowly anyway, moving back to his seat next to Draco. 

 

“When Blaise wakes up, why don’t you boys go outside and play for a while,” Remus suggested, making a mental note to himself that after the full moon, he should look into getting some games around the house to keep the boys occupied. 

 

“We could wake him up,” Harry said with a decidedly cheeky grin.

 

“You could,” Draco agreed, “but he probably won’t appreciate that. Plus he won’t be any fun if he’s tired and cranky.”

 

“Draco’s right,” Remus said firmly, moving over and pressing a hand to Harry’s shoulder to keep him on the sofa. Harry pouted up at him. “Let Blaise sleep.”

 

“Why don’t we go outside now; we can practice some spells,” Theo suggested as he stood up. “We’ve been slacking since we came here, and we need to keep in tune with the magic around.” 

 

“Yeah, I suppose,” Harry huffed, glancing uncertainly at his unconscious mate. 

 

“I’ll send Blaise out to join you when he wakes,” Remus promised. “Go on,” he encouraged, gently pushing Harry up from the sofa, Theo and Draco getting up as well. “I promise I’ll let him know where you are,” he added, seeing Harry hesitating still. 

 

“Maybe we can get to the top of the tree this time,” Draco whispered to Harry before heading towards the back door. Harry laughed happily at that suggestion, hurrying after his friend.

 

“No climbing the trees,” Remus called after them. But Harry and Draco were both already gone. “They’re so going to climb the trees,” he said with a sigh, sounding entirely resigned to that fact. 

 

“I’ll keep an eye on them,” Theo assured him and Remus nodded gratefully watching as Theo followed the two energetic boys outside. Moving around the living room quietly so as not to wake Blaise up, Remus started picking up the bit of mess that was around, figuring he could check on the boys in about twenty minutes or so to make sure they were okay. 

 

\---------------x

 

Blaise felt himself slowly waking up, though he knew right now being awake was the last thing he wanted. He was still far too tired, so he left himself drift between half-awake and half-asleep hoping his mind would decided on one or the other. It was while he was in this half-way state that he felt something unpleasant pressing in on him suddenly, causing his limbs to spasm as he jerked awake. 

 

He blinked blearily around the room as he tried to kick his brain into functioning, into telling him where he was or what had just happened. He absent-mindedly reached out to one side and then the other, coming to the realisation that the wasn’t in a bed. It took another second for him to fully comprehend the concept of a chair, and work out that he was in the living room. 

 

“Harry?” he mumbled tiredly, aware that his mate currently wasn’t in arms reach. 

 

“He’s outside,” someone told him. Blaise shook his head a little and managed to focus on the man sat across from him. “Did I wake you?” Remus asked, a concerned frown on his face and his wand in his hand. 

 

It took Blaise a moment to parse the question, and when he did, his eyes drifted to Remus’ wand. “I think your magic did,” Blaise told him.

 

Remus gave his wand an almost betrayed look, before quickly placing it on the side table, next to the cup of tea he had just warmed. “That wasn’t my intention,” Remus told him after a few moments, as Blaise rearranged himself in the chair, sitting himself more upright.

 

“I assumed,” Blaise told him, scrubbing at his eyes to clear them. “Where did you say everyone was?” he asked, looking around the room and realising the two of them were alone.

 

“They went outside a couple hours ago. Theodore said something about practicing magic,” Remus said. 

 

“Oh, okay,” Blaise said, leaning back in the chair again and closing his eyes as he tried to find the energy to actually get up and go join the others. He really hadn’t intended to fall back to sleep after breakfast, but he hadn’t slept much the last few days, and it had apparently caught up with him.

 

“Maybe you should go upstairs and lay down for a bit longer. You’d probably get some decent sleep that way.” Remus suggested. 

 

Blaise shook his head, eyes still closed. “No, I’m good here.”

 

Remus chuckled. “Okay, if you’re sure.” He paused for a moment before asking, “So, you want me to check on the others or are you going out there soon?” He had looked out of the patio doors into the large garden a few times over the last few hours, and everything had seemed okay to him, but he hadn’t looked in about forty-five minutes, and felt that someone should check up on them soon.

 

“I’ll go in a moment,” Blaise told him, even as he didn’t move from his spot. Remus smiled a little guiltily at the teen who was obviously falling asleep again; he really hadn't thought using a simple spell to warm up his tea would have woken Blaise. Even knowing that the boys were sensitive to magic, he hadn’t thought they would be that bad. 

 

A screech from just outside the patio doors caught Remus’ attention, and again, Blaise jerked awake. The two of them turned in time to see Draco run passed. Blaise let out a tired sigh; he was sure that Theo could handle whatever was going on, but he suspected that his friend would appreciate a hand. He was still debating whether or not to move, when a different, but very familiar, screech sounded out. 

 

“I’m going,” Blaise said before Remus could say whatever he had opened his mouth to say. And he pushed himself out of his seat, his need to go and check on Harry overriding the tiredness that he could feel to his bones.

 

“I can…” Remus offered, but Blaise waved him off. 

 

“I’ve got it. He’s my mate,” Blaise told him firmly, as he headed out the patio doors and into the garden. It was quite a bit colder outside, though a few degrees warmer than it had been the day they put up the wards. “Harry!” he exclaimed in exasperation, having spotted his mate.

 

Harry had apparently created more snow bunnies, and was chasing Draco around the garden with them. Though the blond was giving as good as he got, charming snowballs to bombard Harry. Blaise could only assume that a direct hit had been the cause of his mate’s screeching cry.

 

“You sleep okay?” Theo asked, and Blaise turned to look at his friend, who sat at the large patio table, reading the baking book he had been given for christmas. 

 

“Fine,” Blaise told him dismissively. “How long have they been doing this?” he asked, gesturing to where their mates were charging around.

 

“Not long,” Theo told him, not sounding at all worried and not even looking up from his book. “I’m just glad they are on the ground, and not showing any interest in climbing that huge tree again.”

 

“They climbed that tree!” Blaise said, dropping onto the bench next to Theo. “I am assuming no one fell?”

 

Theo chuckled. “They were fine. Harry jumped from the top, but his landing was brilliant.”

 

Blaise turned to glare at him. “You’re joking,” Blaise stated uncertainty. Theo, however, didn’t react at all. “Please tell me that was your idea of a joke!” he demanded, grabbing hold of Theo’s sleeve.

 

“When do I ever joke?” Theo questioned, his focus still on his book as he turned to the next page. 

 

“When you think it will give me a heart attack, all the time!” Blaise insisted, still not really sure whether his friend was being serious or not. Theo was far too good at keeping a straight face.

 

“You’ll live,” Theo told him confidently. ”And we could get Draco to do his healer thing if it really came to it.” 

 

“Not really the point,” Blaise grumbled. “Theo, please…I’m too tired for this shit.”

 

“He didn’t jump, you dimwit,” Theo said, looking up from his book enough to fix Blaise with a look. “Harry promised you he wouldn’t, so of course he didn’t,” he pointed out, glancing over at where the two boys had given up on using magic and were now lying on the ground making snow fairies. 

 

Blaise let out a long sigh of relief before turning a half-hearted glare on his best friend. “You really love messing with my head, don’t you?” he asked rhetorically. 

 

“You’re too easy, especially when you’re this tired,” Theo chuckled, going back to his book. 

 

“Exactly. So why do you like to torment me?” Blaise questioned. 

 

“Because given the opportunity, you would do the exact same thing to me,” Theo said, turning a page in his book. 

 

Blaise chuckled softly. “Yeah, okay, you’re right about that.”

 

“I’m right about a lot of things; you just never like to admit it,” Theo glanced up from his book once more to look at Blaise when the other teen didn’t say anything to this. He frowned when he saw that Blaise’s focus was fully on Harry. He closed his book and leaned on the table, giving Blaise his full attention. “What’s going on?” he asked with a tone of mild impatience.

 

Blaise turned to look at him, his brow furrowed. “I’m sitting here. That’s what’s going on,” Blaise said, though he kept eye contact with Theo, knowing whatever it was that Theo had on his mind wasn't going to be brushed off so easily. 

 

“I’m talking about Harry,” Theo told him. “If you think you are the only one who has noticed his hesitation to be alone with you the last week or so, you are greatly mistaken.”

 

“So I’m not imagining it,” Blaise said, sounding a little distraught. Theo gave him a sympathetic smile. Blaise visibly deflated, sinking into his seat, elbow on the table and head in his hand. “I think he is determined to keep his promise to Sirius and Remus, and given how… carried away we got last time we were alone…”

 

“You were unable to keep your hands to yourself?” Theo asked teasingly, remembering what Blaise had admitted last time they had discussed this. 

 

“We both were,” Blaise said with almost a hint of panic, sitting up straight again and glancing towards his mate, just to make sure that the other two were still suitably distracted. He leaned across the table a little and spoke quietly when he said, “I think Harry is just trying to avoid the issue completely, by not being alone with me. I know it is probably the most reliable way of ensuring nothing happens but…”

 

“But you still hate it?” Theo finished for him.

 

“Yes,” Blaise sighed. “Of course I hate it, Harry won’t even let me touch him unless there are other people around.”

 

“It’s not fun when you’re the one being ignored, is it?” Theo asked, remembering just after they had arrived here, and Blaise had been the one avoiding Harry, though not to the same extent Harry was ignoring him now. “Look, I told you before, and if you want I can have the same discussion with Harry, the only ones being hurt from this, is you two.” 

 

“This is Sirius and Remus’ house though,” Blaise pointed out. “We might not have to listen to the rules the Fae gave us, but shouldn’t we at least respect their wishes?” 

 

Theo hummed thoughtfully. “To an extent, of course, but this isn’t like it was back in the city,” he said, speaking slowly, trying to find the right words. “Remus and Sirius took us in, and we should, of course, be grateful for that, but they have no ownership of us. We are free here, able to leave if we wish, and as such, I think we should be able to make our own choices… to an extent at least.”

 

“And if Harry’s choice is to try his best to obey Sirius’ nothing-more-than-little-kisses rule?” Blaise asked, already knowing the answer to that. 

 

“Then you will be sharing nothing more than little kisses, and I will continue to torment you,” Theo told him with amusement. 

 

“Thanks,” Blaise said bitterly, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest, an annoyed scowl on his face as he turned his attention back to Harry. 

 

“Of course,” Theo said, deciding to take a little pity on his sulking, over-tired friend, “those rules only apply while we are ‘in their house’ so to speak.” Theo picked his book back up and opened it to the page he had been on, letting Blaise think over what he had just said. 

 

While Theo, himself, knew that Sirius had meant he didn’t want any of them having sex in general, and he was sure Blaise knew that as well, it was almost painful to sit here and watch Blaise and Harry like this. It wasn’t right, it wasn’t them; even in the Fae city they had always been a physically affectionate couple, and he just wanted them to be able to live for themselves, rather than to please others or follow rules. He couldn’t see what Sirius and Remus had against it anyway; as long as they used the protection spell, Theo could see no reason why Blaise and Harry shouldn’t be able to take their physical relationship as far as they wanted. 

 

“You do make a good point,” Blaise said quietly after a few moments, his expression having lightened considerably. “Guess I will have to find some time alone with my mate to discuss this in more detail,” he added happily. 

 

“Just so long as I didn’t have to see or hear about it,” Theo added pointedly, glancing up from the page he was reading, long enough to fix Blaise with his sternest expression.

 

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Blaise told him dismissively, his attention back on Harry again, though this time with a far less innocent expression. 

 

“There is a lovely set of woods over there that I’m sure Harry hasn’t explored yet,” Theo said helpfully. 

 

“You do seem awfully keen for me and Harry to work out this aspect of our relationship,” Blaise said, turning back to his friend with a knowing smirk. “Is this your wanting to watch us thing, again?” he asked teasingly. “Because you know I really would have to clear it with Harry first.”

 

“Shut up,” Theo told him bluntly. 

 

“I mean, maybe not the first time,” Blaise went on, as though Theo hadn’t said anything, “as that is obviously a rather precious moment, but it is something that we could all discuss together if it was that important to you.”

 

“I really hate you sometimes,” Theo said half-heartedly.

 

“It’s not like we haven’t shared a bed many times before. And I think Harry is generally comfortable with himself, so I don’t think he would object to…”

 

Blaise was cut off when Theo reached over and put his hand over his mouth. “I am sure this is revenge for implying Harry jumped from the tree, but seriously, stop. I have no desire to see either you and Harry having sex.”

 

“Harry and Draco then?” Blaise asked teasingly, as he pushed Theo’s hand away from his mouth, and he couldn’t help but laugh uproariously when once again he managed to get his friend to blush. “I can’t blame you on that one. That would be kind of interesting to see.”

 

“Perhaps at some point we should discuss the concept of ‘inside thoughts’,” Theo said, sitting back in his seat. “Now if you don’t shut up, I’m going to hit you with my book.”

 

Blaise laughed. “Theo, you’re so violent. I think I like this side of you,” Blaise said laughing louder when Theo raised his book to follow through with his threat. Blaise, however, was already moving from his seat heading over to where Harry and Draco were still playing. 

 

“Alright, Draco, stop hogging my mate. I want some time with him now,” Blaise said as he walked over to the two younger teens. 

 

“You were sleeping, so you can’t exactly accuse me of keeping him from you,” Draco pointed out smugly, as he pushed himself up from the ground and brushed snow from his tunic. 

  
“Yeah,” Harry agreed with a grin, getting up as well; though he was seemingly unfazed by the snow that clung to his dark hair and clothes. “It’s your own fault, really.” 

 

“I think it might be yours actually,” Draco told Harry quietly, “with all the kicking him last night and not letting him sleep…”

 

“Nu-uh,” Harry protested as he moved to Blaise’s side and wrapped his arms around Blaise’s waist, snuggling in close for warmth. “I didn’t mean to keep you up,” he told him. “And I let you sleep all morning!”

 

“It wasn’t your kicking that kept me awake,” Blaise admitted, smiling as he wrapped his arms around Harry, enjoying having his mate close to him. “You weren’t all that restless last night,” Blaise said. 

 

“Then what kept you awake?” Harry asked, tilting his head curiously. Neither of them noticed when Draco apparently lost interest and wandered off to have a moment with his own mate.

 

“My mind was restless. I’ve had too much to think about recently,” Blaise said. 

 

“Over thinking things is supposed to be Theo’s job,” Harry reprimanded. 

 

“And your job too, it seems,” Blaise said, earning a confused look from his mate. “You’ve been avoiding me this last week because of what Sirius said on Christmas, right?” 

 

Harry guiltily looked away, only to have Blaise gently turn his head back. “Blaise… I… I promised. I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was hurting you… but I promised…” 

 

“I know what you promised, and we can both keep that promise, if we’re careful,” Blaise said, leaning down and gently pressing his lips to Harry’s. It was a quick kiss, hardly enough time to get carried away. “We just have to learn a little bit of self control,” Blaise whispered. Harry nodded, though said nothing. The two of them stood there just holding each other for a few moments before Blaise pulled back a little.

 

“Let’s go for a walk,” he suggested, keeping hold of Harry’s hand as he led his mate off toward the woods. 

 

Draco watched them go from the spot he had claimed on Theo’s lap, cuddling in close for warmth. He had been kept warm by all the running around he and Harry had been doing, but now that he had stopped, he could feel the chill of winter creeping in. 

 

“Should we be worried?” Draco asked his mate. “About Harry and Blaise,” he clarified, when Theo looked down at him and said nothing. 

 

“No, they just need to reconnect,” Theo explained. “Speaking of which, with them out of our hair, maybe we could do some reconnecting of our own.”

 

“Theo!” Draco exclaimed softly, and Theo suspected that if his mate’s cheeks hadn’t already been red from the cold, that Draco would have been blushing. “Remus is just inside, and we promised.”

 

“You know that rule was mostly to stop Harry and Blaise going too far,” Theo told him dismissively, glancing towards the large glass panels of the patio door, “and we can move around the corner to the bench under the pergola if you’d rather. Remus won’t be able to see a thing if we’re there.”

 

“You’re a terrible influence,” Draco stated, but he took Theo’s hand anyway as he slid from his mate’s lap, pulling him in the direction he had suggested. 

 

Theo chuckled. “I don’t see you complaining about my influence,” he said as they found a decent seat away from any possible prying eyes. Theo sat down, and pulled Draco back onto his lap, straddling him this time. 

 

“Why would I complain about it?” Draco smiled, “I never said I didn’t like it.” 

 

Theo smiled back, brushing his hand over Draco’s cheek before pulling Draco into a kiss. Their kisses, while not as wild as Blaise and Harry’s seemed to be, were still passionate and full of teenage enthusiasm. 

 

Draco’s fingers dug into Theo’s shoulders, as his mate’s arm wrapped around his waist. The fingers of Theo’s other hand were still threaded in Draco’s hair, and Theo pulled him close, until their chests were all but pressed together. Draco made a sound of contentment, as Theo tilted his head to the side, tongue teasing at Draco’s lips. 

 

It was an instinctive move as he rolled his hips gently in search of any friction, but the combination of his petite frame and his mate’s large thighs, meant that the movement was in vain. Theo promptly distracted him, however, nipping teasingly at Draco’s bottom lip, drawing a gasp and taking the chance to explore further with his tongue. 

 

Draco pushed forward in response, kissing his mate with abandon. He could feel his mate’s approval; it was written clearly in the tension of Theo’s body. The arm around his waist was edging subtly lower, pulling Draco ever closer, until Draco’s legs were more around Theo’s waist than spread by his thighs. There was friction then; friction against Theo’s toned belly, and against the bulging proof of his mate’s arousal. 

 

“Theo,” Draco gasped out, pulling back from the kiss, simply out of desperate need for air. “Too much,” he told him, though it wasn’t really that he objected.

 

“You sure it’s too much?” Theo asked, shifting his own hips slightly and pulling another gasp from Draco. It was moments like this, seeing Draco’s flushed face, and glazed eyes, that Theo was able to understand why Blaise had such a hard time stopping with Harry. 

 

Draco nodded. “We… we should stop,” Draco confirmed, but made no move to pull away. “Remus could find us…” 

 

“If that is your only objection...” Theo trailed off, his hands moving until they were settled on Draco’s waist, he gently pulled his mate’s hips forward, causing Draco to rub against him again. 

 

Draco shivered, wrapping his arms around Theo’s neck as he pressed himself fully against his mate. “Theo…” The soft whine in Draco’s voice was all the permission Theo needed to continue, lifting his own hips as he pulled Draco’s forward to grind against him. “Theo, kiss me,” Draco demanded, and Theo was happy to oblige.

 

Pressing their lips firmly together, Theo’s tongue easily found it’s way back into Draco’s mouth, his hands still holding onto Draco’s hips, keeping them moving in a gentle rocking motion that had both of them moaning.

 

The slow grinding of his hips against Theo’s was a wonderful torture, but it never seemed to be enough to give him what his body was now craving. Draco was hyper-aware of every part of his own body, and the heat he could feel coming from Theo. The hands holding Draco’s hips gripped him tighter, pulling him forward to grind more firmly against Theo as they both started seeking the release their bodies now needed. Draco was sure that he wouldn’t be able to stop now, even if Remus did come looking for them and caught them in the act. 

 

Theo was the one to break the kiss this time, pulling back with a loud gasp, moving his hands from Draco’s hips to wrap his arms tightly around his mate. Draco held him back just as tightly, his hips never stopping their movements as they both ground firmly against each other. 

 

Draco bit down on his lower lip in an attempt not to be too loud when he felt the heat pooling in his stomach and knew what was coming. Theo was panting in his ear, whispering Draco’s name over and over again. Draco found it euphoric, seeing Theo reduced to this beneath him, his mate’s desperation matching his own; it was a powerful sensation to be able to draw such a reaction from his dominant mate.

 

And even though it wasn’t much, the fact that Theo had given him this power of control, to either continue until they were both satisfied, or to stop, that was enough to send Draco over the edge. Letting out a strangled cry, his hips jerking forward as the wet spot appeared on his trousers. 

 

Theo held him close as his body shuddered with pleasure, cradling Draco’s trembling body with care as he shifted his hips a few more times, before tilting his head back with a groan. His head rested against the brick wall of the house as he came, his breathing deep and ragged, Draco all but collapsed on top of him.

 

“That was fun,” Draco said softly, not wanting to move. Theo hummed in his agreement, not sure he could move. 

 

“We seem to have made a mess of ourselves though,” Theo said. Draco snorted, waving his hand lazily and casting a cleaning spell. 

 

“Better?” Draco asked his eyes closing as he snuggled closer to Theo and again his mate simply hummed in agreement. 

 

\---------------x

 

Remus stood by the back door in the kitchen, looking out into the yard. He didn’t see the boys, but he wasn’t worried. With the full moon being so close, his senses were heightened enough that he could still smell them, and knew that all four boys were close. 

 

“Knock, knock! Anyone home?” Fabian’s voice came from the living room, and Remus turned away from the door. 

 

“I’m in here,” he called back. He felt a little bad that his senses had been so focused on checking on the boys that he hadn’t noticed someone coming through floo, but he trusted the wards to keep out anyone truly unwelcome.

 

“I come bearing a gift,” Fabian declared as he came through the door, holding up a familiar vial before placing it on the sideboard. “Neither Severus or I will have time in the morning to drop it off, so had to bring it now.”

 

“That’s fine, really. The fact that Severus is willing to make this for me at all…” Remus trailed off, unable to put his gratitude into actual words. It wasn’t the first time that he had been brought the potion the evening before, so he knew that it would still be fresh enough when it took it in the morning. 

 

Fabian laughed. “Really, Remus, you over think things way too much. Anyone ever tell you that? Severus is happy to help you out.”

 

Remus smiled and shook his head. “I doubt that very much, but thank you anyway,” he chuckled. 

 

“So how are the boys doing? I’ve been popping in at odd times to bring you the potion that I haven’t seen them,” Fabian said. 

 

“Keeping themselves busy,” Remus told him, gesturing for the man to take a seat at the kitchen table, Remus taking his own seat. “And keeping Sirius and I on our toes. Though Sirius was back at work today.”

 

“And you're sure you haven’t killed the boys and stuffed them in a closet somewhere?” Fabian asked with a grin. “I know a day stuck in the house with four of my nephews might end badly.”

 

Remus chuckled. “Thankfully I have more patience than you,” he told him. “They’re in the garden, getting covered in dirt to drag all over my lovely house later.” Though he sounded far from actually annoyed by this prospect.

 

“You’re enjoying this whole parent-y, guardian-y thing,” Fabian stated, grinning broadly. 

 

“Is it that obvious?” Remus questioned. 

 

“You’re a natural mother,” Fabian teased, laughing loudly when Remus narrowed his eyes at him. 

 

“Don’t let the boys here you saying that. They might actually start calling me it,” Remus told him sternly, not even wanting to think about the teasing that would earn him from Sirius. It would be never ending.

 

“Oh, then I definitely have to tell them!” Fabian said, looking far too amused about the whole idea. Fabian only laughed harder when Remus let out a low growl. “Though, maybe it would be better for my health if I waited until after the full moon for that.”

 

“I make no guarantees on your safety either way,” Remus told him dryly. 

 

“Noted,” Fabian said, still laughing a little. “So how long have the boys been outside? I was hoping to see them before I left. Just so I can tell Molly that they are being fed properly and stuff like that.” 

 

“She thinks we’re not feeding the boys?” Remus asked, his eyes actually flashing gold at the thought of someone accusing him of such a thing. 

 

“No!” Fabian said quickly. “Not what I meant, but you know Molly, she worries about everyone. She is convinced half the time her own kids aren’t eating enough, and she’s the one feeding them.” 

 

Remus couldn’t help his snort of laughter at that. He had seen her fuss over her children that way many times, but knew that it was something that she did because she cared, so he was glad that she cared enough about the four boys to worry about them. He remembered then that these boys had been with Ron, that Molly was still missing her son; he felt guilty that he had forgotten that even for a moment. It made sense that she would want to ensure that the boys were safe and cared for; it was the closest she could get to taking care of Ron.

 

“Remus?” Fabian asked, sounding a little concerned. 

 

“Sorry, I’m okay,” he said standing up from the table. “I’ll go call the boys inside, they’ve been out there for long enough anyway.” 

 

“It’s okay. Let them have a bit more fun. It’s not that urgent that I see them right now.” Fabian told him, getting up as well. “I trust you have them well in hand, and I should be getting back anyway.” 

 

“You sure? You’re welcome to stay for dinner,” Remus offered. “You could tell that sister of yours that you actually witnessed the boys being fed real food.”

 

Fabian laughed again at that. “Tempting, I will admit, but I promised to have dinner with Severus,” he explained. “And I have no interest in finding out what consequences there might be for standing up Severus. He might decide to stop feeding me!”

 

“I don’t think he’d ever stop feeding you,” Remus reassured. “I’d be more worried about him using parts of you for a potion.”

 

“Even more reason not to stand him up,” Fabian said as he made his way back toward the living room, Remus following behind him. “I’ll be back by the day after tomorrow with more potion; I’ll visit with the boys then,” Fabian told him, grabbing some floo powder and tossing it into the fire. 

 

“We’ll be here,” Remus assured him, as Fabian stepped into the green flames;  though it wasn’t like he and the boys had anywhere to go. “We’ll see you then.”

 

Fabian grinned, nodded his head, gave Remus a wave of goodbye, and with a instruction of “Spinner’s End,” vanished from sight. 

 

\--------------x

 

Fabian arrived back at Severus’ house, pausing in the sitting room when he didn’t see anyone waiting for him. He listened closely, trying to figure out if there were any uninvited guests here at the moment. He knew that Severus wasn’t expecting anyone other than him, but that never meant anything, and caution was necessary. 

 

He remained close to the fireplace, unwilling to venture further into the house just yet. His attention turned toward the stairs when he heard movement, visibly relaxing when he saw that it was Lily. 

 

“I was worried a moment when no one was in the sitting room. I thought we had gotten unwanted guests while I was taking Remus his potion,” Fabian said. 

 

“No, we’re good,” Lily assured him. “How’re Remus and Sirius? How’s Harry?”

 

“Remus seemed well,” Fabian said, “despite the approaching full moon. Fatherhood suits him. I didn’t see Sirius or the boys though; Sirius was back at work today, and the boys were playing outside when I was there.”

 

Lily smiled sadly; she had always thought that Remus would be a good father if given the chance. “But they’re okay, the boys? Harry?” she questioned, needing to know that her son was safe and well. 

 

“Remus promises me that they are, that they’re settling in well. They are in the best place they could be right now,” Fabian assured her, reaching out and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Lily nodded sadly, and forced a smile. “Is Severus in his lab? I’ll just head down and let him know I’m back,” he said, turning to head in that direction. 

 

“Actually,” Lily said, reaching out to catch his arm and stop him. Fabian turned to look at her once again. “I was hoping I could talk to you,” she said quietly, hesitantly.

 

“Of course,” Fabian told her, his brow wrinkling in concern as he allowed Lily to lead him over to the sofa. The two of them took seats next to one another, turned just enough to look each other in the eye. “Lily…?” he prompted.

  
“Your offer that you made the other week…” Lily said, her voice trailing off as she looked at him hopefully. “Were you serious about it?”

 

“You’re reconsidering,” Fabian stated, only half surprised by this. “What changed?”

 

“I need to see him,” Lily admitted. “I can’t stop thinking about how much I have already missed out on. Narcissa was telling me about the boys, and how grown up they are, and she pointed out how much we’ve both missed.” 

 

“Wait, when did Narcissa see the boys?” Fabian asked in confusion. The last he knew, only a limited number of people had actually met the four boys. 

 

“She saw them in Diagon Alley, right before Christmas,” Lily explained. “She only saw Draco and Harry, and from my understanding it wasn’t very long.”

 

“I’m surprised she didn’t take Draco away with her,” Fabian said. It was no secret that he didn’t think highly of the Malfoy’s, and this was an argument they had had about Narcissa before. While Fabian was civil with the blonde woman, they would never be friends. 

 

“I don’t think she had a chance,” Lily told him. “And she is a better person than you give her credit for; she has kept yours and Severus’ secret for the last decade, after all,” she pointed out, glaring at Fabian defiantly. 

 

“That’s true,” Fabian admitted. “But honestly, I would be surprised if any mother didn’t seize a chance to reclaim their child. Would you have let Harry go?” 

 

“Probably not. Not willingly,” Lily told him earnestly. “Which is why I need to see Harry. Does your offer still stand?”

 

“Of course it still stands,” Fabian said, a mischievous grin taking over his face. 

 

“You’ve already started brewing the potion, haven’t you?” Lily sighed, shaking her head in fond exasperation. 

 

Fabian laughed. “Well, I figured even if you didn’t change your mind, it’s always good to have a stash of the stuff around, just in case. It should be ready in a couple of weeks.” 

 

“Am I really that predictable?” Lily asked, though she couldn’t help but smile; the idea that she might be able to see her son in just a few weeks gave her hope.

 

“Yep,” Fabian told her unapologetically, and Lily huffed, sounding more amused than annoyed. “I’ll let you know when it is ready, and we will make a plan.”

 

“Thank you,” Lily said earnestly. “Do we tell Severus?”

 

Fabian huffed out a laugh. “Are you crazy?” he asked. “He’ll skin me alive at the very suggestion. And it will be safer for all of us if he doesn’t know. I absolutely will help you, but I’m not risking Severus like that.”

 

“Good point,” Lily conceded. She wanted to discuss it more, but the familiar sound of footsteps on the basement stairs made them both fall quiet and look over to the kitchen doorway. 

 

A few moments later, Severus walked into the room. He stopped and stared at the sight of Lily and Fabian sitting close together, obviously having been talking privately. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.  

 

“What are you two planning?” he asked almost hesitantly, not entirely sure he wanted to know. 

 

“Nothing,” Lily told him happily, smiling innocently. Fabian snorted a laugh, earning a light smack in the arm from Lily.

 

“Hmm,” Severus hummed, “nothing good, I’m sure. Just keep my potion ingredients and wardrobe out of it this time,” he told them sternly, before turning and heading back into the kitchen. 

 

“I make no promises!” Fabian called after him with a laugh and Lily had to smother giggles of her own, both of them glad that Severus remained blissfully ignorant of their plans. 

 

\---------------x

 

Sirius slammed shut the last of the folders on his desk, before throwing his arms in the air. “FINALLY!” he exclaimed loudly. It had taken him all day, and he knew he was late enough to have certainly missed dinner, but he had managed to catch up on his backlog of work. “Take that, paperwork. I win.”

 

“I wouldn’t celebrate too soon, there will be more there tomorrow,” Frank said from where he was standing in the doorway. 

 

“Don’t you threaten me!” Sirius said with a mock glare toward Frank, who just looked amused. 

 

“As your superior, I consider that practically a job requirement,” Frank told him smugly. 

 

“I’m practically a father of four now. You should cut me some slack. Shouldn’t I get maternity leave or something?”

 

Frank chuckled and shook his head. “I’m not sure it works that way, given that those boys are fifteen years old, not fifteen hours,” he pointed out. “Besides, it would be paternity leave for a father. And I wouldn’t complain too much, you’re getting another three days off for the full moon.”

 

“Is that why you are making me work so hard right now?” Sirius asked with mock outrage.

 

“Absolutely,” Frank responded unrepentantly. “The more paperwork you do now, the less you’ll have to do after the full moon.”

 

“You know, if someone had told me about all this paperwork, I might have reconsidered my career choices,” Sirius grumbled, as he waved his wand over the completed folders, which drifted off to file themselves.

 

“If we told people that when we hired them, we would have less people working here.”

 

Sirius barked out a laugh. “I would believe that,” he said, getting to his feet and putting on his robe, which had been hung over the back of his chair. 

 

“Heading home?” Frank asked, smothering a yawn.

 

“I am, and you should too,” Sirius suggested. “Were you serious about taking the boys for the full moon?” he asked, wanting to be sure that Frank hadn’t reconsidered now that he had had the whole day to think it over. 

 

“Of course!” Frank declared without hesitation. “No offence intended, but I would feel a lot better knowing that the boys were safely out of the way.”

 

“None taken,” Sirius assured him. “It would make me feel better as well; likely Remus too. I know it is something that was worrying him. Those boys are far too curious for their own good.”

 

Frank chuckled deeply. “Talk to Remus, and let me know. But I will assume the boys are coming to mine unless I hear otherwise.”

 

Sirius nodded. “I’ll let you know in the morning, and we can make plans for when I can drop the boys off,” 

 

Frank nodded in agreement, and Sirius left the other man to close up the department. He made his way down to the atrium; the ministry was fairly quiet, as most people had already gone home a couple hours ago. Sirius wasn’t used to being there this late, not when there hadn’t been a field mission. The one advantage of leaving this late was that there was no queue for the floo, and he was stepping into one of the fireplaces and calling out ‘Wit’s End’ before he knew it.

 

Sirius stepped out of the floo and into their living room. The house was quiet, and as he moved into the room, he smiled at the sight of his lover more than half asleep on the sofa, a book face down and open on his chest. Remus forced his eyes open enough to blink blearily up at Sirius.

 

“You’re home,” Remus said, smiling softly.

 

“Nope. I am totally a figment of your imagination,” Sirius teased, leaning down to steal a kiss from Remus’ sleep slack lips. “Your imagination is impressive, creating someone as awesome as me.”

 

“If this was my imagination, you would have shorter, more wild hair, glasses, a weird habit of playing with a snitch and an irritating obsession with a particular red-head,” Remus retorted sleepily.

 

“I call bullshit,” Sirius said, shaking his head and sitting Remus up enough that he could take a seat and let his lover’s head rest in his lap. “I got over thinking you had a thing for James a long time ago.”

 

“Well it took you long enough; you were an idiot for ever worrying about that in the first place,” Remus pointed out, smiling up at his lover, as Sirius ran fingers through his hair. “I honestly don’t know where you got such a ridiculous idea in the first place.”

 

“You know, thinking about it now, I’ve no idea where I got the idea either,” Sirius chuckled. “Maybe I was just jealous of the fact that you spent a lot of time with James.”

 

“To be fair, he needed more help with his schoolwork than you did,” Remus smiled.

 

“That was because he couldn’t take his eyes off Lily long enough to read a book,” Sirius pointed out. “I think the only reason I ever learned as much as I did was because being in the library was a great excuse to be close to you.”

 

“You also stole a lot of my attention during the full moon, you being the only other canine creature there.”

 

“Does your werewolf find me sexy?” Sirius asked, wiggling his eyebrows at Remus in a way that his fiancé would know he was merely joking around with him. 

 

Remus said nothing, dismissing the question as usual. Instead he changed the subject. “Speaking of the full moon, we need to work out a plan.”

 

“Ah, what would you do without me,” Sirius asked rhetorically, emphasising the overly-dramatic words with an ostentatious wave of his arm. “I, your magnificent fiancé, have already found the perfect solution.”

 

“You have?” Remus asked, sitting himself up and turning to look at Sirius properly. “And, before you answer, remember that I have already vetoed locking the boys in the attic for the night.”

 

“You know I was joking about that,” Sirius insisted with a roll of his eyes. “And no, the solution is Frank.” Sirius paused to snort at his own accidental pun. 

 

Remus gave him an unimpressed look. “You have a frank solution, or the solution lies with Frank Longbottom?” he asked, somewhat despairing that he even had to ask, but his brain was not fully functional at the moment, since he really had been half-asleep when Sirius had arrived home.

 

“Longbottom, of course; he has offered to take the boys to his house for the full moon,” Sirius clarified. “I said that I would check with you, but it seems like a perfect solution.” 

 

“It does seem like the best solution; we can talk to the boys about it tomorrow. Another option we have is Molly, and let the boys decide where they want to go,” Remus said. 

 

“And if they don’t want to go anywhere? What then?” Sirius asked. 

 

“They can’t stay here,” Remus said firmly. 

 

“I wasn’t suggesting that,” Sirius assured him quickly, “but we’re going to have to make sure they understand that as well.”

 

“I think that as long as Blaise and Theo understand the danger, they will want to take Harry and Draco somewhere safe,” Remus pointed out, as much to convince himself as Sirius. A yawn forced it’s way out before he could stop it. “Either way, we can discuss this more tomorrow, when I am not half-asleep.”

 

Sirius reached out as though to pick Remus up, but the werewolf was having none of it. “Off, no, get off,” Remus said, batting Sirius’ hands away. “Try something at the risk of your hands, mister.”

 

Sirius quickly raised his hands in surrender, trying hard not to laugh at his fiancé’s stubbornness. He wisely said nothing as he watched Remus get up and head towards the stairs, waiting only a moment before darting up the stairs after him.

 

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We would like to apologise for the slightly late update for this chapter, it took longer to write than we thought it would. But we hope you all enjoyed the chapter! We have a solid idea of what we’re doing with the next chapter, but due to time being limited, all further updates will be every 4 weeks now instead of 3. At least until real life stops getting in the way!


	17. Chapter 16

First a huge thanks to Emily for beta reading this for us, as always :D   
Second, we would like to apologise for how long it has taken to get this chapter up for all of you! Please see end of the chapter for explanation. Enjoy!

Chapter 16

January 4th 1996

It was the day before the full moon, and Remus and Sirius had informed the four boys that they would be going to stay with Frank for the duration. Blaise still wasn’t quite sure how he felt about this, but Frank had been nice enough to them the few times they had seen him, and the man was apparently responsible for ensuring that they had been able to remain in the care of Sirius and Remus.

But as much as Blaise liked Frank, he wasn’t thrilled about going to another new place. They were finally settling in, getting used to their new home, and none of them wanted to give that up, not even for a couple of days; not to mention, they would once again be surrounded by unfamiliar wards made from corrupted magic. Blaise didn’t want to think about how that was going to affect Harry.

Draco had been particularly resistant to the idea of going, and had even tried to insist that he should stay, in the hope that he might be able to actually help Remus with his transformation. Theo had, of course, been adamantly against that idea, as had both Remus and Sirius, and the temper tantrum that had followed had been impressive, with Draco going so far as to lock himself in his room. 

As far as Blaise knew, Theo and Remus were still attempting to coax Draco out. With Sirius once again at work, though only for a half-day, it was left up to Blaise to make sure Harry was packed and washed up, after they had spent the morning outside.

“Are you nearly done?” Blaise called out in the direction of the shower. 

He could hear the water still running and dreaded to think what Harry could have been distracted by enough to be in there so long. Harry had apparently heard him though because a few moments later the water shut off, and he could hear the sound of movement from the bathroom. 

Blaise folded another tunic into the bag he was packing for his mate and turned to the door in time to see Harry wander through it. He nearly choked on the air he was breathing when he saw what Harry was, or rather wasn’t, wearing. 

His mate was covered only by a towel, which was being held around his waist by one hand. It looked as though Harry had barely made much of an attempt to dry himself, trickles of water dripping down from his hair, over his bare chest and soaking into the slightly rolled top of the towel. 

“Blaise?” Harry asked after a few seconds, when his mate just continued to stare at him blankly. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Blaise said quickly, turning his back on Harry. “You should get dressed. I’m almost done packing your bag.”

“I hope you didn’t pack my favorite tunic!” Harry exclaimed, hurrying over to stand next to Blaise, looking into the bag to see what his mate had packed. 

Blaise glanced down at Harry, his eyes widening when he realised that Harry had lost his towel in his dash across the room. As Harry leaned over the bed to grab at one of his tunics that Blaise had yet to pack, the teen had the sneaking suspicion that Harry was doing this on purpose. 

“Would you like some help getting dry before you put that on?” Blaise asked, leaning over Harry’s back, unable to resist the chance to get a little closer to his mate. 

“Blaise,” Harry laughed, unable to move with his mate pressed so close against him, “I’m dripping all over my clothes.” 

“Maybe you should have thought of that before you came in here naked and wet,” Blaise told him, wrapping his arms around Harry’s waist, and pressing a kiss to the back of his neck. “Do you know how tempting you look like this?”

“I have some idea,” Harry said smugly, pressing back against Blaise just enough to feel how he was affecting his mate, and Blaise let out a surprised laugh, not having expected the moment of bold honesty from his mate.

“You know I’m not going to let you go now, right?” Blaise asked, one of his hands slowly moving up Harry’s chest, feeling the other boy shudder. 

“You have to,” Harry said, turning his head to look at Blaise. “My bag still isn’t packed, and Remus will get mad if he finds us like this,” he pointed out. 

“Perhaps you should have thought about that as well, before coming in here and teasing me like this.” Blaise bit gently down on Harry’s neck, leaving a small red mark. Harry let out a small gasp of surprise, but made no attempt to move away, and the sound became a soft moan as Blaise’s hand moved down his chest.

“Blaise… we can’t,” Harry protested weakly, sounding not at all convinced by his own words.

“Again, you should have thought of that, before coming back in here,” Blaise said, removing one of his hands from Harry to wave it at the door, closing and locking it. He had no intention of being interrupted this time. 

“Blaise…” Harry bit his lip when his mate’s hand moved lower again. He could feel Blaise’s excitement, physically and mentally, and knew that Blaise wasn’t going to stop. And Harry didn’t want him to. He wanted to keep feeling his mate’s lips against his neck, kissing and biting at him, his hands moving over his chest as they traveled downward. 

“If you want me to stop, tell me now,” Blaise said breathlessly. He wasn’t going to let Remus get between them, but if Harry truly didn’t want this, then Blaise would make himself let go. However, he needn’t have worried because Harry shook his head and pressed back against him. 

Licking his lips in nervous anticipation, Blaise lowered his hand yet further, until it brushed against Harry’s own erection, and he couldn’t help but smile a little, pleased to have so easily drawn such a reaction from his mate. 

Harry gasped, his hips bucking instinctively in search of more friction. His hands scrunched up around the fabric he was leaning on, though he neither knew nor cared whether it was clothes or bed covers. He felt Blaise’s other hand tighten on his waist, pulling him back against the stronger body. Harry bit down on his lip harder, not wanting to be too loud, however he was unable to stop the small whimper from escaping as fingers curled around his aching cock. 

Between his own arousal and the waves of it he could feel coming off his mate, Harry felt disoriented. It was good, better than good, it was amazing, bordering on far too much all at once, yet he wanted more. 

Blaise was rocking his own hips forward, grinding against Harry as he worked his hand slowly over his mate’s cock. Harry was losing himself in the feelings far too quickly; however, there was something leaking through his bubble of pleasure, and everything practically shattered around him when he heard the sound of a door slamming down the hall. Remus and Theo had managed to get Draco out of his room. 

“Blaise…” Harry moved to stop his mate, his hand wrapping around Blaise’s wrist, stopping him from moving. “Blaise… w-wait…” 

“Shhh, I got you, Harry,” Blaise whispered, squeezing his hand around Harry’s cock, pulling a startled moan from his small mate. 

“N-no… Blaise, we… we have to stop,” Harry said, trying to find the willpower to actually pull away. It was harder than it should have been. He didn’t want Blaise to stop, and he certainly didn’t want him to let go. 

A sudden shove of his magic was all that it took; Blaise stumbled backward, crying out in shock as Harry threw a small barrier up around himself. 

“I’m sorry!” Harry cried as he sank to his knees. “I’m sorry! We can’t! We promised…” 

“I don’t give a fuck what we promised, Harry! You’re my mate! You said you didn’t want to stop,” Blaise said accusingly, and Harry could feel the frustration and anger coming from Blaise. 

“I don’t!” Harry turned to look at Blaise, “I want to keep going. I don’t want you to stop...but we have to, we promised…”

“No, Harry, YOU promised,” Blaise pointed out sternly, huffing in frustration. “And you promised to try, nothing more.”

“And I am trying, Blaise,” Harry told him a little tearfully, not sure how to process the whirlwind of conflicting emotions that his mate was feeling “And you promised me that you would help me, that we would keep that promise together.”

“I don’t like being told that I’m able to look at, but not touch my mate, especially when you come in here the way you did!” Blaise bit out. “You deliberately dropped the towel. You knew what you were doing when you bent over the bed.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry exclaimed, actual tears on his face as he grabbed a tunic and the closest pair of trousers from on the bed and all but ran for the door. He cried out in frustration when he yanked on it but it didn’t move, held closed by Blaise’s spell.

“I’m not going to let you lead me on like that anymore,” Blaise went on. “You either want me or you don’t. So maybe you should decide what’s more important, your stupid promise or me.”

Harry couldn’t even find the words to reply to that, tearing down Blaise’s locking spell as quickly as he could, before running from the room, his clothes clutched tightly against his chest as he darted down the hall and back into the bathroom. Sinking down to the floor, he tried to sort out the overwhelming emotions battering against his shields. 

He tried to block it all out, reinforce his shields like he had been taught, but it was too much. He felt dizzy and disoriented from it all, unable to even tell which emotions were his own anymore, but the more he tried to focus, the more his head swam. As his gut gave a protesting lurch, Harry rolled to his knees, and managed to get his head over the toilet bowl before his stomach clenched violently, emptying into the loo.

“Harry?” The door to the bathroom opened slowly, as Draco’s head poked through the gap. “Harry!” he gasped, hurrying into the room when he saw him sitting naked, throwing up into the toilet. “What happened?”

Harry just shook his head and sobbed again, before throwing up once more. He didn’t have the words to explain. He didn’t even really understand it himself, and he just wanted it all to stop. Draco’s hand pressed against his back, rubbing in circles, and Harry focused on the concern that his friend was feeling, letting it start to ground him. He didn’t notice Theo standing in the doorway, a disapproving scowl on his face. 

Harry was calming down enough that he could now get his shields up properly again, though he was still unable to stop his tears, or how much it had hurt to have Blaise so angry with him. What made it so much worse was that Harry knew his mate was right to be angry; he had known what he was doing when he had teased a reaction, and he had still continued because he had enjoyed the way Blaise was able to focus on nothing else but him. 

“How about we get you dressed?” Draco suggested softly, still rubbing gentle circles on Harry’s back. Harry just nodded meekly, as Draco reached for the tunic that had fallen to the floor. 

Theo watched on as Harry raised an arm enough to help Draco start to dress him, before turning from the room. Now that he knew that Harry was safe and calm in Draco’s hands, he could go deal with what, or rather who, he suspected to be the cause of Harry’s state.

“What did you do?” he demanded to know, as he slammed open the door to Harry’s bedroom. 

Blaise turned to look at Theo, narrowing his eyes at his best friend for a moment before turning his back on him. Theo clenched his hands into fists. 

“I’m only asking because you’re my friend. Now what did you do?” he asked again. 

When Blaise still didn’t answer, Theo strode forward, grabbed the other teen and turned him around roughly while he swung his fist, satisfied when it connected with Blaise’s jaw. 

“What the fuck did you do to Harry?” Theo snapped. 

“I didn’t DO anything,” Blaise snapped back, rubbing the sore spot where Theo had punched him. 

“Really?” Theo asked skeptically. “So I suppose he was just in the bathroom naked and throwing up because he’s feeling a little under the weather then?” 

Theo was holding his own anger back, but just barely, and only because he knew Blaise. He knew that his friend would have never have forced Harry to do anything he didn’t want to. However, right now he could only think of the few conversations he and Blaise had had about how difficult things were between him and Harry, and how Harry’s empathy made it really hard to stop if things started going too far. 

Blaise stared up at Theo, a look of guilt crossing his face before he looked away. Theo breathed in deeply, his magic practically sparking in the air around him. 

“You had better start talking in the next thirty seconds, before I decide for myself what happened, and punish you accordingly,” Theo hissed. 

“I didn’t do anything!” Blaise said. “Well, nothing Harry didn’t want anyway...at first.” Blaise growled in frustration, running a hand through his own hair. 

“Explain.”

“I got angry at Harry. He came in here and started things with me, then I don’t know what happened! He just stopped… no worse than that! He used his magic to push me away!” Blaise huffed. “And… maybe I said some things I probably shouldn’t have… but damn it, Theo! I’m sick of this!”

“But you didn’t do anything? After he pushed you away,” Theo clarified, needing to know for sure. Harry was like family to him, and he wouldn’t let anyone, not even Blaise, hurt him. 

“Of course I didn’t,” Blaise told him dismissively, “but I was so angry. He should never have made that stupid promise. And he shouldn’t act like he wants to take things further if he doesn’t!”

Theo just hummed vaguely. To him, it sounded like both Harry and Blaise were partially responsible, but he wasn’t going to say that; this was for them to work out. 

“Is he okay?” Blaise asked after a few seconds, taking a seat on the end of Harry’s bed. 

“Draco’s with him. I would suggest you give them both some space for a little while,” Theo told him. “Harry will just need time, and given that Draco is already irritated about not being allowed to stay here for the full moon, you probably don’t want to test his temper. Unless you fancy a matching bruise on the other cheek.”

“I think this one will be enough for now, thanks,” Blaise said dryly, raising his hand again to feel where Theo had hit him. “You didn’t have to hit me so hard though.”

“I’ll apologise if you can honestly say you didn’t deserve it,” Theo said, looking Blaise in the eye for a moment, smirking when his friend kept his mouth shut. “That’s what I thought.”

The two of them fell silent again, and Theo took his time to glance around the room. “Why don’t you bring our bags downstairs. I’ll give our mates another few minutes to get themselves sorted, and we’ll meet you down there.” 

Blaise sighed. “I suppose hiding in here for the next few hours isn’t an option? I’m not really in the mood to talk to Harry yet.”

“So don’t talk to him. I’m not going to hold your hand through this one Blaise; you two have to find out what works for you.” Theo said. He wasn’t expecting an reply from Blaise, but waited a moment to see if his friend had anything to say. When Blaise remained quietly thoughtful, Theo left the room, heading back to the bathroom to check on Draco and Harry. 

He knew that none of the others were happy with being sent away for the full moon. Theo, however, was looking forward to it; he was hoping to use this as a much needed distraction from the drama that now surrounded their lives, even if it was only for a few days. He would never regret leaving the Fae city; however, he was starting to miss how relatively peaceful their lives had been there. 

\---------------x

Frank and Alice’s house wasn’t as large as Sirius and Remus’, but they had two spare bedrooms, three if they included Neville’s, but Frank wouldn’t dream of letting anyone but Neville stay in there. Sirius had advised him that the boys would likely all end up in one bed together anyway. 

He finished dressing the beds in the two spare rooms, using a handy spell, before heading downstairs. Alice was exactly where he had left her, sat in her chair in the back room, gazing out of the window. Glancing at the clock, Frank let out a small sigh. The boys would be here soon, and even though he had talked to Alice about it, she had had no reaction to the news. 

“Alice,” Frank said, moving to stand next to where his wife was seated, “they’re going to be here soon.” 

Alice glanced away from the window long enough to look up at him, then toward the door before she returned her gaze out the window. 

Sighing again, Frank gently patted his wife on the shoulder before walking through his house once more. Sirius had warned him that if he didn’t want the boys to get into anything, he should put it in a secure place. There had been a few artifacts that he had already locked away, but it wouldn’t hurt to check and make sure he hadn’t missed anything. 

He knew that he was simply looking for something, anything, to do in order to pass the time, but he hadn’t anticipated how shaken he would feel at the idea of having the boys there. He was far too aware that they were Neville’s peers, that these weren’t the children he and Alice truly wanted in their home; not that he didn’t want to give the boys a home, he was glad to be able to help, but it ached more than he’d expected.

When the floo flared green a little over ten minutes later, he was both glad that the wait was done and nervous, not least over how Alice might react to their presence.

It was Draco and Harry that stepped through first, accompanied by Sirius, who moved the two teens out of the way of the fireplace. Sirius flashed Frank a smile, but the two boys’ eyes were darting around the room in curiosity, before landing on him. Theo and Blaise came through only moments later, before Frank had a chance to welcome them to his home.

“No Remus?” Frank asked curiously when the flames of his fireplace returned to their usual glowing mix of reds and oranges. 

“He wasn’t feeling up to the trip,” Sirius told him casually. “You boys all remember Frank?” he asked, despite knowing they would. It was hardly a subtle change of subject. 

“Of course,” Theo answered for all of them. “Thank you for letting us stay with you.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Draco grumbled under his breath, though not quietly enough given the look that Theo shot him.

“I assume you remember everyone?” Sirius ploughed on with determination, the question directed at Frank. 

“I do,” Frank assured him with a nod, before leading the group further into the house. “Though I would like to introduce you all to my wife, Alice,” Frank told them as they reached the back room.

A rather frail looking woman turned her head and watched with a blank expression as the room filled with people. The four of boys stared at her for a moment before sharing concerned looks. 

“Boys, this is Alice, my wife and… Neville’s mother,” Frank introduced, motioning toward where she was sitting. The woman just blinked slowly. “And Alice, this is Blaise, Theodore, Draco, and Harry.” Frank pointed out each boy as he said their name, and wasn’t the least bit surprised when it was Harry who moved forward first.

“Hi!” Harry greeted happily, smiling at the woman who just sat there and stared at him. Harry tilted his head curiously. “Um… hi?” he tried again, when he got no response. 

Alice opened her mouth as if she were going to say something, only to snap it shut again, turning wide-eyes up toward Frank. 

“Alice, this is Harry, James and Lily’s boy. Remember? I told you that we had found some of the missing children?” Frank asked, kneeling down in front of his wife, resting his hand over hers. “They’re going to be staying with us for a couple days during the full moon.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Blaise asked, frowning as he watched the strange display. Frank shook his head, squeezing Alice’s hand gently before he stood up to look at Blaise. 

“It’s a long story,” Frank said evasively, maintaining eye contact with his wife. “Things have been difficult since Neville was taken, and time has taken it’s toll on Alice more than most.”

“Is that why she’s so sad?” Harry asked, and Frank turned to look at him in surprise. Blaise, on the other hand, appeared to be determinedly holding his tongue. 

“Harry,” Theo said warningly. 

“What?” Harry turned to look at his friend. “She’s really sad, and I was just wondering if it was because Neville was taken.”

“I think something like that would be obvious. Most of the wizards here seem to have some degree of sadness concerning the fact that we, and the others, were taken,” Theo said. 

“Theo’s right,” Sirius agreed. “It was kind of a big deal for everyone.”

“Neville will come back to you eventually,” Harry told Alice kindly, wanting to ease some of her sadness. He smiled at her broadly as he felt a swell of hope from the woman.

“How are you so certain he’ll come back?” Frank questioned, jumping on the fact that Harry seemed willing to talk. 

“Because Rosario told us they were never going to keep us there; that we had a job-” Harry was cut off when Draco covered his mouth. 

“No, please,” Frank said imploringly. “This could be helpful.”

“We don’t want to talk about it,” Blaise told him grumpily from where he stood a little way back from the others with a sour expression on his face. 

“Leave them be, Frank,” Sirius said, when it looked like his fellow Auror was about to insist. “They aren’t going to tell you anything if you push them. Besides, you don’t want to go making enemies out of these boys right before you have them in your house for two days,” he added with a somewhat wry laugh, trying to lighten the tension.

Frank looked as if he were still going to press the issue, but stopped when Alice reached out and took hold of his hand.

“So,” Sirius said, after a moment of quiet had settled over the room, “I’ll leave you boys in Frank’s capable hands because I have a rather irritable werewolf to get back to.”

“Yes, yes,” Frank said, forcing himself to look away from Alice for the moment, though he didn’t let go of her hand. The gesture was too rare and precious for him to relinquish it so soon. “We’ll be just fine; don’t worry. Let me know when you are ready for them to come home.”

“Don’t worry; I am sure Remus will be demanding to have them back the moment we are out the other side of this,” Sirius assure him, knowing that his fiance wasn’t coping half as well as he was pretending to with the idea of the boys being away from them.

Harry turned to grin up at Sirius at that. He had felt just how conflicted Remus had felt about them leaving; he thought it might be half of why Remus hadn’t come along, not sure that he would actually be able to leave them there. He had no doubt that Sirius and Remus would be back for them soon. 

“Behave yourselves,” Sirius said firmly as he wrapped each of the boys in a momentary hug, leaving both Draco and Blaise rather stunned, Theo looking touched, and Harry grinning from ear-to-ear. 

“We always do,” Harry fibbed. Sirius laughed loudly, ruffling Harry’s hair. 

“That’s my boy,” Sirius said proudly, turning to head back toward the other room where the floo was located while Frank stepped forward. 

“Come on, I’ll show you four to your room,” Frank said. He put a hand on Draco’s back guiding him out of the room, seeing how fixated on Alice the young Malfoy boy seemed to be. The way he was looking at her made him slightly uneasy. 

Glancing back to make sure that the other three boys were in fact following him, he led them up the stairs to the room he had prepared. Pushing open the door and gesturing inside, Frank watched as Harry hurried into the room first, with Draco just behind. Theo and Blaise followed a bit more slowly. Frank hovered awkwardly in the doorway for a moment as each of them explored the room.

“I’ll leave you boys to get settled. I’ll call you when it’s time for dinner,” Frank said, leaving the door open as he turned and left.

Theo walked over to the door, looked out into the hallway and listened to Frank’s steps as he descended the stairs. Sure that their host was gone now, Theo turned to look directly at Harry, the other teen sitting on the edge of the bed.

Harry knew he was in trouble, but once again wasn’t sure what he had done wrong. So he waited for the door to close, and for Theo to turn toward him before asking. “What did I do?” 

Theo sighed, “Nothing.”

“I can give you a list!” Draco piped up. “You weren’t shielding, again.”

“I was!” Harry protested, looking over at Draco now. “I swear I was! She was just that sad…” 

“Okay fine, so you were shielding, but you were still rude just blurting something like that out. There is obviously something more going on here-” Draco stopped in his rant toward Harry when Theo placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“Calm down, Draco, neither of those things are that important, considering it’s Harry and he can get away with stuff like that on occasion,” Theo said before turning to give Harry a pointed look. “But perhaps we should keep the information about our appointed ‘job’ to ourselves for now. We don’t know if the wizards are going to react favorably to the idea of changing how they do things.”

“So we really can’t tell them anything?” Harry frowned. 

“For now, no, I don’t trust them yet,” Theo said. 

“But they’ve been so nice…” Harry pouted. 

“Nice, and trustworthy are two different things, Harry,” Blaise sighed. 

“Fine. I won’t trust them then,” Harry huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “But I still want to help them, and maybe we can start with Alice.” 

“We don’t even know what happened to her,” Theo pointed out. “Almost anything could be behind her current state.”

“It’s Fae magic,” Blaise said, and all three of the other boys turned to look at him in confusion. “There was lots of magic around her, but it wasn’t all wizard magic. There was Fae magic there too.”

“Fae magic? Like ours?” Draco asked curiously, and Blaise nodded. 

“Exactly. It is like it is wrapped around her, tightly,” Blaise explained. “But there are hints of wizard magic too. Like powerful spells were cast on her at some point that have left their mark.”

“And you’re certain it was Fae magic?” Theo questioned, looking thoughtful as he considered this. 

“Of course. I was already getting fairly good at visualising the magic around us before we left the city,” Blaise told them, unable to keep from sounding a little smug about that. “It isn’t that hard to tell wizard magic from Fae magic. They just look so different.”

“If it’s Fae magic, does that mean you can actually fix her, Draco?” Harry asked hopefully, almost unable to hold himself still in his eagerness. 

“I won’t know until I can sit down with her,” Draco said, a thoughtful expression on his face as he mulled over the possibility. “And it may take some time to find out what spell was used.”

Theo looked momentarily uncomfortable, casting a furtive glance in Blaise’s direction. “Do you think....?”

“That this is what was mentioned in the folder? The complication…? Yes, it has to be,” Blaise agreed easily.

“Complication?” Harry asked, looking between Blaise and Theo with suspicion. “In the Fae’s folders? What did it say?”

Theo gave a weary sigh and ignored the look of warning that Blaise was giving him. “In Neville’s folder, it said there was a complication when he was taken. That his mother was home, and that they had to use memory and compulsion spells on her.”

“Well that would narrow down what I am looking for,” Draco admitted. 

“So you’ll try?” Harry asked happily, jumping up and throwing his arms around the blond. “Thank you, thank you. I know you can do it.” Harry said, kissing Draco’s cheek and laughing when his friend let out a loud protest. 

“Yuck! Blaise! Get your mate to stop molesting me!” Draco demanded. 

“Yeah,” Blaise said dryly, “he does that. Give him a moment; he’ll get bored.”

“Harry, Draco,” Theo spoke up quickly, wanting to keep Blaise and Harry from arguing, at least while they were guests in someone else's house. “Why don’t you two go back downstairs. See if you can talk with Alice. I want to speak to Blaise alone for a moment.”

“But…” Harry protested, rather hurt by Blaise’s remark, and the dismissive attitude that he had had from his mate all day. 

“Just go,” Blaise interrupted insistently, his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. Harry fell quiet.

“Harry, Draco, please,” Theo implored, his hands on Harry and Draco’s shoulders, edging them back towards the door. 

“We’re going,” Draco said huffily, throwing a glare over his shoulder in Blaise’s direction, as he took Harry by the hand.

Harry could feel how annoyed Blaise still was, and it was like an itch or a headache that just wouldn’t go away, even as he tried to focus on Theo and Draco’s protectiveness instead. So he was almost relieved when Draco all but dragged him from the room, away from his mate. He was happy to let Theo deal with Blaise if Blaise was going to be like this.

\----------------x

January 5th 1996

Sirius watched as Remus viciously attacked his plate of scrambled eggs with a fork, going so far as to have actually bent the prongs a little. He had seen his fiancé’s pre-full-moon moods more times than he could count, but it was more this time; Remus missed the boys. Sirius would have been a bit more openly amused by this, if he wasn’t worried about getting his face ripped off. 

“Stop laughing at me,” Remus snapped. 

“I didn’t say anything!” Sirius insisted defensively. 

“You don’t have to, I can smell your amusement from here,” Remus growled. 

“You can? I showered this morning,” Sirius said with a grin. 

Remus snorted in amusement, despite himself. “I’m aware,” he told him. “You were definitely making the most of our empty house, parading around in the smallest towel we own. Pretty sure that wasn’t even a towel; it looked a lot more like a flannel.”

“It wasn’t that small,” Sirius protested, “besides, you were NOT complaining.”

“The towel was small enough for some of you to be hanging out beneath it,” Remus told him with a lust-filled snart. 

Sirius smirked. “And you were pretending not to look.”

“I’d seen it before,” Remus told him with mock dismissiveness and a shrug of his shoulders.

Sirius gasped in outrage. “We’ll just see if I let you see it again,” he told him pompously. And at that, Remus gave a real laugh, ringing with obvious disbelief. “Hey! I could totally keep myself clothed for… at least a week,” Sirius insisted, but he paused, considering. “...Maybe... Okay, a couple of days at least.”

“Of course, love,” Remus said, sipping his tea and picking up his paper. He was feeling much more like himself now; it never failed to amaze him how easily Sirius could manage that. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sirius trying to hide a smile and knew that it had been entirely deliberate. 

“Did you take the last of your potion?” Sirius asked, not really wanting to break the happy moment between them, but knowing that they needed to discuss the upcoming evening. Even after twenty-four years of transformations, Sirius still felt the need to ensure that Remus got through them okay. 

“Of course. That’s not something I’m likely to forget,” Remus said, not even bothering to hide the bitterness in his voice. Sirius knew better than to take it personally at this point. 

“Just double checking,” Sirius said, pushing away from the table before standing up. He started clearing away the dishes that he and Remus were finished with. 

“I know,” Remus told him. “I do appreciate that you put up with me month after month like this.”

Sirius smiled at him. “At least your time of the month can be mostly controlled by a potion,” he pointed out. “Remember how vicious Lily could get,” he said with an exaggerated shudder. 

Remus chuckled, shaking his head. “Maybe it is me that has to put up with you,” he pointed out.

“Could be!” Sirius agreed unrepentantly. He had always rather thought that was the case. “But we both know you have a masochistic streak a mile wide, otherwise you would never have survived even one year of friendship with me and James.”

“I was so glad that anyone even wanted to talk to me that you could probably have been the darkest of wizards and I still would have followed you around like a sad little puppy,” Remus pointed out, his tone suddenly wistful.

Sirius gave up on the dishes for the moment, and moved to take a seat next to his fiancé. “That’s nonsense, and you know it,” Sirius said stubbornly, taking Remus’ hand in his own. “You have far better standards than that. That you have agreed to marry me is evidence of that.” 

“This is why we have to have such a big house, so your ego can fit,” Remus said dryly. 

“One of many reasons,” Sirius agreed earnestly. “Such as housing random teenagers I bring home from the ministry for you to look after.”

“Yes, and as much as I’m enjoying having the four boys here, I hope you don’t plan to make it habit, bringing random teenagers home with you. Someone might start asking questions,” Remus said with a teasing smile. 

“You make me sound like some pervert!” Sirius gasped. “I’ll have you know the only person I want to do anything of that sort with is you.” 

“I know that. I just meant that OTHER people might ask stupid questions,” Remus pointed out with a roll of his eyes. 

“Well I have no current plans to bring home any other kids,” Sirius assured him. “Though I make no guarantees. There are still forty-five other kids left to be brought home, and a fair few of them might need some place to stay for a while.” 

“Let’s at least get through today first,” Remus pleaded with a resigned chuckle. “We have enough to worry about right now with the full moon. Our current kids are safe, we have the house to ourselves, and I intend to make the most of having you all to myself today.”

“I like the sound of that,” Sirius all but purred, leaning in close to press a kiss to Remus’ jaw. “But first, I should finish washing those dishes; they’re not going to clean themselves,” Sirius said, standing up and moving to go back to the sink to finish the chore he had started. 

Remus stared at his fiance in mild shock, before a low growl worked it’s way out of his throat. Standing quickly enough to send his chair falling to the floor, he crossed the kitchen in two steps, grabbed Sirius from behind and spun him around to pin him against the counter. 

“You KNOW better than to tease me during the full moon!” Remus’ voice had taken on a rough, animalistic tone as he pressed more firmly against Sirius. 

“And yet, I still do it every month,” Sirius smirked, pulling at his hands, only to have Remus grip his wrists more firmly, letting out another low growl. “Bring it on, Sweetheart. Give me all you’ve got.”

Remus knew well enough by now to take Sirius at his word, and leaned forward, forcefully pressing their lips together. He pressed the length of his body against Sirius’, adrenaline flooding his body as he dominated his mate. 

Sirius moaned wantonly, and Remus could feel the evidence of how much they both were enjoying the moment. This, as much as anything, had been a reason to remove the boys from the house a little early, knowing that they needed this time to get fully acquainted with each other before the night settled in and the moonlight changed him. 

Remus growled again, instinctively, as he lowered them both to the floor. His inner wolf always relished these moments when Sirius willingly submitted to him, and this time was no different.

\-------------x 

Draco was already regretting the promise he had made the evening before, that he would try and help Alice. Because now that he had made a start at it, he was determined to make some kind of progress. However, the spells that had been used on the woman were far too strong, making it difficult for Draco to even tell if there had been any damage done to her mind or not. 

It was also becoming a little unnerving, having Alice sitting there, staring at him, and occasionally glancing over to where Harry had seated himself nearby. She made no other movement, and Draco was starting to become annoyed with the whole situation. 

“Did you want to take a break?” Harry asked, picking up on Draco’s annoyance. 

“No, for the tenth time, I do NOT want to take a break,” Draco snapped, keeping his focus on Alice, who blinked slowly at him. “I want to undo at least one of these spells! It shouldn’t be this hard!” Draco huffed, running a hand through his hair. 

“She knows what we’re doing,” Harry said, trying to offer some kind of help to his friend; however, he was no healer, and had very little knowledge about how to undo binding spells. 

“How do you know that?” Draco demanded, looking away from Alice so he wouldn’t have to see her staring at him anymore. 

“Because she’s hopeful,” Harry said, as if it should have been obvious. “Are the spells on her really that strong?” 

Draco let out a long sigh. “Originally, no, I don’t think they were, but there’s evidence that they’ve been tampered with. I can feel the magic out easily enough, and with enough force I could rip it down, like I did with the wards back at Wit’s End,” Draco explained. 

“So why don’t you just do that? It would break the spells, wouldn’t it?” Harry questioned. 

“It would,” Draco agreed, “but it could do more harm than good. If her mind is already damaged, and I just ripped the spells away from her, I could kill her… and I, for one, don’t want to explain THAT to Frank.” 

“Yeah… don’t do that,” Harry agreed.

“Trust me, I had no intention to,” Draco told him, turning back to Alice again. She was still staring at him eerily. It was too much. “I’m giving up for now. I need to find Theo,” he said, going to look back over his shoulder towards Harry. However, he was startled by a tight grip on his arm, and he heard Harry gasp behind him. 

Alice was still looking at him, but her expression had changed, now desperate and wide-eyed, and her hand had wrapped around his wrist. It was the only reaction he had seen from her in all the hours he had spent working.

“She’s panicking,” Harry said softly, and Draco’s sense of helplessness grew. 

“I’m not giving up,” Draco told her stubbornly. He was already feeling determined, but he hadn’t really stopped to consider how much it might truly mean to Alice herself, who had been presumably stuck in her own head for the best part of a decade and a half. “I just need a break to clear my head.” 

“Great idea. Why didn’t I think of that?” Harry giggled, rolling his eyes at his best friend. 

Alice slowly let go of Draco’s wrist, her expression fading back into the blank stare she had had before, as she turned her attention away from Draco and Harry, looking out the window she was sat in front of. Draco felt like he should say something more, convince her that he really wasn’t going to give up; however, a soft noise from Harry caught his attention and he turned to look at his friend again. 

Harry was rubbing at his eyes, trying to get rid of the tears that had formed there. “It’s not me,” Harry said when he saw Draco looking at him worriedly. “It’s Alice,” he explained.

“That’s it. We both need a break,” Draco said. Going over to Harry, he grabbed the other teen’s arm and pulled him from the room. 

“She was just so…” Harry trailed off into nothing as he struggled to find the words to explain.

“Desperate?” Draco guessed, as he led them into the kitchen. Frank had told the boys to make themselves at home, and had shown them where all the snacks were. Draco knew that they both needed a distraction right now.

“Sort of,” Harry agreed hesitantly. It had been more complicated than that, but desperation was definitely part of it. Whatever she had been feeling though, it had been overwhelming. “I was blocking as best I could, so some of what I was feeling from her was a bit muffled.”

“About that,” Draco said as he pushed Harry into one of the seats at the table and fetched a bowl of grapes from the fridge, placing it in front of his friend, “I have a stupid idea.”

“That’s usually my job,” Harry told him with an exaggerated pout, snagging a grape as Draco took a seat across from him. “But I wanna hear it anyway,” he assured him, popping the grape into his mouth and watching his friend expectantly.

“What if you lowered your shields,” Draco suggested. “And I know,” he added before Harry could protest, “Blaise and Theo probably won’t like the idea… and honestly I am not convinced on how smart it actually is, myself…”

“Then why?” Harry asked. 

“Because you can feel what she feels, and right now, that’s the closest we can get to hearing what she has to say,” Draco pointed out with barely restrained excitement. 

“It’s just emotions, Draco,” Harry told him with a frown. “I can’t hear her thoughts.”

“I know that.” Draco waved him off dismissively. “But it’s still better than nothing. I mean, you knew that she understood, and that she was scared when I went to leave.”

“I suppose,” Harry said a little hesitantly. He knew it would take quite some convincing to get Theo and Blaise on board, and they had no idea what Harry would feel if he took his barriers down fully, so, despite his usually dive-in-head-first attitude, he wanted to be sure that this was the best course of action. “Will that actually help?” 

Draco shrugged. “Not sure, but it has to be worth a try. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Erm… That I get a head full of seriously twisted, messed up emotions and get so completely overwhelmed by it that I can’t put the shields back up?” Harry suggested with a wry grin.

“This isn’t the Fae city, you’re not going to get overwhelmed. And if you do, I’ll just take you out of the room where you can focus more away from Alice, and get your shields up,” Draco said, he made it sound simple enough that Harry found himself agreeing. 

“Alright,” he said, moving to stand up. 

“Where are you going?” Draco questioned. 

“To tell Blaise and Theo,” Harry said, as if it was the most obvious thing. 

“You do realise if you tell them, they won’t let us try this,” Draco said. “And they may even tell me to stop trying to help Alice.” 

Harry frowned. He truly felt that something like this should be talked about with their mates first. The night before had been tough enough with Blaise apparently not wanting to sleep next to him; he had still been awake when Harry had gone to bed, and had woken up before him, so Harry wasn’t even sure where he had slept. So while Blaise was still so angry at him, Harry didn’t want to give his mate another reason to not talk to him. 

“Besides, this is your choice, Harry,” Draco insisted. “We don’t need their permission to do anything. You’re the one who would have to deal with whatever Alice is feeling, not me or Theo or Blaise.”

“That’s true,” Harry admitted, looking for a hole in Draco’s logic but not finding one. “And Blaise is only just outside if we need him.” Harry bit his lip, glancing out toward garden, where he knew both of their mates currently were.

“Exactly,” Draco said happily, knowing that he had all but persuaded Harry now. “And won’t it be easier to focus on Alice’s feelings if everyone else is further away?”

“It would,” Harry agreed, popping another grape in his mouth, mulling it all over as he ate it. “Okay,” he said when he was done a few moments later, “we can give it a try.”

Harry laughed when Draco grinned widely at him and shoved a few grapes in his own mouth before standing up. “Let’s go try it now!” Draco said excitedly. 

“Right, right now?” Harry frowned. “I thought we just came out here to take a break…”

“And we’ve had one. Besides, I want to try this before Theo and Blaise come back inside,” Draco insisted, grabbing a few more grapes before grabbing Harry’s arm and pulling him to his feet again. 

“...is this how you feel every time I get excited about something and drag YOU everywhere?” Harry asked, allowing himself to be led back out of the kitchen. 

“Probably,” Draco told him happily, “though that’s often accompanied by a sense of dread, because I KNOW you are going to land us in trouble.”

“I don’t always,” Harry grumbled half-heartedly. “And I am dreading Blaise’s reaction when he finds out we did this,” he added under his breath. He knew that Draco was right, that this was his choice, but he was still a little unsure about not talking to Blaise about it first.

“We’re helping Alice. How mad can he get about that?” Draco asked rhetorically. Harry opened his mouth to answer, but then they were already in the back room of the house and Draco was standing him in front of Alice. “So I’m going to stand over the other side of the room so that I don’t distract from what Alice is feeling.”

Harry nodded vaguely, watching as Draco backed up over to the kitchen door they had just come through. He felt suddenly rather alone in this, and had to resist the urge to grab his friend by the hand and drag him back over, keep him close. But he knew Draco was right; this needed to be done with minimal distractions.

Harry tried not to let his sudden unease show as he looked at Alice. Forcing a smile, he held a hand out toward her. “We’re going to try something that might help,” Harry explained, knowing that Alice could understand him, even if she couldn’t respond verbally. Alice lifted her own hand taking Harry’s. 

“Alright,” Harry said taking a deep breath. “Let’s do this.” 

Harry closed his eyes, the lingering doubt in the back of his mind once again telling him that this was probably a really bad idea. But he had agreed to it, and he did want to help Alice as much as Draco did. Deciding it was now of never, Harry dropped his shields. 

He was dimly aware of Alice’s grip tightening on his own hand as his body tensed up with the sudden loss of all his mental shields. Emotions came at him from everywhere, hitting against him like a physical tidal wave. He had no idea how he remained standing; though truthfully he was so detached from his sense of self that he wasn’t certain that he had. 

It was too much, and his first instinct was to tell Draco, but he couldn’t think clearly enough to remember how to work his voice, how to shape his mouth to form words. He was thankful that his lungs seemed to be drawing air of their own accord, out of pure survival instinct, because he wasn’t certain he could remember how to do that. 

Draco watched Harry and Alice closely from where he stood across the room, it was only now occurring to him that he had no idea how to tell if Harry had dropped his shields or not. He assumed that his friend had however, after Alice took Harry’s hand and Harry fell eerily silent. 

“Harry?” Draco asked hesitantly. He didn’t want to interrupt, but it seemed to be taking longer than he had expected for Harry to snap out of it. Something was definitely off.

But Harry didn’t react, and continued to stare at Alice, his body rigid and his breath coming in short gasps. He seemed completely oblivious to Draco’s presence, which only alarmed Draco further. He was thinking now that this had been a terrible, terrible mistake. 

“Harry!” Draco called louder, demanding his friend’s attention. 

When Harry still didn't move, Draco’s panic rose further, his heart hammering in his chest. Hurrying forward he grabbed Harry’s shoulder, pulling him away from Alice and turning the far-too-still boy to face him. Harry, however, continued to stare straight ahead, eyes wide and unblinking. 

“Harry, look at me!” Draco ordered. 

The only reply he got was a deep shuddering breath and a small whimper before Harry fell silent again. Draco was truly panicked now; he had to get Harry out of this room, away from Alice, and hope that he hadn't just caused his friend any lasting damage. 

Glancing toward Alice, Draco suppressed a shudder. He had to force away the mental image of Harry stuck in the same state as this woman. He couldn’t, wouldn’t let himself think like that. Harry would be fine. 

Draco tugged on Harry’s arm, thankful when Harry followed the movement, taking a step forward. He would have bodily dragged his best friend from the room if he had had to, but was glad that Harry was at least this responsive. He wrapped an arm over Harry’s shoulder, holding his arm, and guiding him carefully towards the living room, where they had come through the floo into the evening before.

Harry went with him, and Draco sat him on the sofa, crouching down in front of him. 

“Harry?” Draco said, his voice wavering fearfully. He shook his friend by the shoulders, trying to break him from his trance now that they were further from Alice. “Harry!” he shouted, hoping to shock some kind of reaction. 

Harry let out a muffled noise as tears started rolling down his face, his whole body was visibly trembling. 

“Harry, it’s okay, I’m right here,” Draco said, trying to coax more of a reaction from Harry, and calm him down at the same time. He reached out, putting his hands on Harry’s shaking ones, wanting to comfort his friend. The change in Harry was instant, the smaller boy jerked almost violently away from Draco, curling himself up into a corner of the sofa. 

“...Blaise…” Harry’s voice was so soft that if Draco hadn’t been paying close attention to him, he might have missed it. 

“I’ll get him,” Draco promised, realising that he and Harry needed help. “Stay right here, don’t move,” he said, knowing even as he did, that it was a redundant instruction; Harry didn’t look like he was capable of standing right now, let alone anything more. But he was worried about Harry, and flustered, so he wasn’t thinking clearly at the moment; if he had been, he would have called for Blaise and Theo sooner. “I’ll be right back.” 

Draco didn’t even wait for a response. Not wanting to waste more time, he turned and hurried for the back door, running out into the garden. 

“I broke Harry!” Draco yelled hysterically. 

Frank and Theo, who were talking with Blaise at the far edge of the garden, both turned to face him. Blaise, however, didn’t hesitate, he was already running across the small garden, hurrying past Draco and straight into the house. Draco turned to stare after Blaise for a moment, and by the time he turned back, Theo was at his side.

“What happened?” Theo questioned, reaching out and pressing a hand to his mate’s arm. 

“It’s Harry,” Draco said, looking up at his mate, willing himself not to completely breakdown and just beg Theo to fix it. 

“Yes, we established that,” Theo said calmly. “I need a little more detail than that. What were you two doing?”

“We were sitting with Alice; I was trying to see if I could help her, and nothing was working!” Draco said, his voice still had a panicked edge to it, but he didn’t seem so close to a breakdown anymore now that he was with Theo, and Blaise had gone inside to see to Harry. 

“And how did you helping Alice affect Harry?” Theo questioned. 

“What were you doing with Alice?” Frank demanded. He didn’t sound cross, just concerned that Alice might also have been hurt. 

“Nothing I did was working, so I asked if Harry could help by lowering his shields,” Draco admitted. 

“What?!” Theo exclaimed, before huffing out a breath, obviously reigning in the frustration and worry for Harry he was feeling. “Draco....”

“I know, I know, it was a stupid idea,” Draco said before Theo could actually start lecturing him on it. “But we both really wanted to help Alice, and we needed to know what was going on inside her mind, even if it was just Harry telling me what she was feeling… I want to help her, not hurt her,” Draco explained quickly. 

This was apparently all Frank needed to hear because the man quickly moved past the pair of them, hurrying into the house, presumably to check on his wife for himself. 

“So what happened then when Harry dropped his shields?” Theo asked, his attention still fully on his mate. 

“He just… froze,” Draco choked out, leaning against Theo’s side when his mate reached for him. “I don’t know what happened, not exactly. I think it must have been too much because he stopped responding to me. For a moment I thought I had made him like Alice too.”

“You really should have known better than to tamper with Harry’s shields. You were there when he didn’t have them after his magic was taken,” Theo said. “I’m not trying to lecture you, but I need you to consider the consequence of your actions. Was your ambition worth the risk?”

“I never thought it would do this to Harry,” Draco insisted. “I’m so sorry.”

Theo pulled Draco into a hug, offering comfort to his mate. “Next time, just come get me, and we’ll talk about it before you do something so reckless.” 

Draco leaned into the hug, nodding against Theo’s chest. “I promise, I’ll think things through a bit more next time.” 

“Good, now let’s go inside. Blaise should have had enough time with Harry to calm him down, and hopefully get his shields back up,” Theo said. Keeping an arm around Draco, he led the other teen into the house. 

Harry was still sat on the sofa, only now he was curled up into Blaise’s side, clinging to his mate as he cried and rambled on about what had just happened, about all the emotions he had felt from not just Alice, but from everyone. Blaise for his part, sat there, running soothing circles on Harry’s back, allowing the other teen to have the breakdown he needed now that his shields were up again. 

Blaise turned his attention toward Theo and Draco for a moment. “He’ll be fine,” he said, before returning his full attention toward Harry. 

Theo nodded, “Come on Draco, let’s go get some lunch. Blaise and Harry need some more time alone.”

TBC

So, some of you might already know as you follow both of us on Facebook. But for those of you who don’t, we have spent the last few months planning our wedding! (Yes, to each other).  
Of course things are a little more complicated than that as we have a lot to do to get Celtic over to the UK on top of planning the wedding.   
So while we do apologise for things coming to an alarming halt, we hope that once things have settled a little in the new year, we can get back to writing and updating this regularly.

**Author's Note:**

> Pronunciations
> 
> Almar: Al-Mar  
> Elmon: El-Mon  
> Alais: Ah-Lace  
> Arnaldo: Ar-Nal-Doe  
> Rania: Rah-nee-Ah  
> Farai: Fah-Rye  
> Cellica: Cel-i-Cah  
> Tinasia: Tin-ah-zee-ah  
> Vulre: Vul-lure  
> Isevel: Iss-eh-Vel  
> Rosario: Roe-zar-Ree-Oh  
> Itham: Ith-am


End file.
